The Verge

An artist's rendering of the Parker Solar Probe. | Image: NASA NASA sent its Parker Solar Probe just 3.8 million miles from the surface of the Sun - and it survived. The probe transmitted a signal back to Earth on the night of December 26th, indicating it's in good health and operating normally," according to NASA.The mission marks the closest the Parker Solar Probe - or any human-man object at all - has ever gotten to the Sun. The probe set off on its mission on December 20th, with the closest approach occurring on December 24th as it flew 430,000 miles per hour past the solar surface. Mission operations were out of contact with the probe during this time.Now that NASA has confirmation of the mission's success, it expects the Parker Solar Probe to send detailed telemetry data on its status" on January 1st. The close flyby is supposed to help scientists get a better understanding of solar wind, the Sun's heat, and how energetic particles are accelerated to near light speed."The Parker Solar Probe was first launched by NASA and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in 2018. It's designed to why study the corona - the atmosphere surrounding the sun - gets so hot. To survive these close encounters, the Parker Solar Probe is equipped with a Sun-facing heat shield that reaches around 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, while the probe itself remains just 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images From postapocalyptic wastelands to cozy sci-fi futures, there's a lot to dig into on Microsoft's subscription service this year. Read the full story at The Verge.

I've finally had a chance to test out the new hybrid powerhouse from Canon, the R5 Mark II. The camera comes with much-improved autofocus powered by the new Digic X processor, new eye-controlled autofocus, a backside illuminated sensor capable of faster readout and better low-light performance, and stunning video specs like recording in 8K internally with Canon Log 2 color profile.But as much as those specs sound impressive (and they are), using the R5 Mark II also brought back so many memories I've made with previous 5D cameras that have been a huge part of my professional and personal life for well over 15 years, specifically the 5D Mark II.In this review video, I decided to try something a little bit different. Instead of going through every single one of the specs and pixel-peeping every photo I've taken over the past month, I've picked the top three photos that have taught me something about the new Canon R5. Let us know what you think about the new format. Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge After years of of chasing live-service and open-world blockbusters, games like Astro Bot and Balatro showed that old formats could be a solution to modern industry problems. Read the full story at The Verge.

In late September, Dominik Domtendo" Neumayer received a troubling email. He had just featured The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom in a series of videos on his YouTube channel. Now, those videos were gone.Some of your videos have been removed," YouTube explained matter-of-factly. The email said that Domtendo had now received a pair of copyright strikes. He was now just one copyright strike away from losing his 17-year-old channel and the over 1.5 million subscribers he'd built up.At least, he would have been, if Domtendo hadn't spotted something fishy about the takedown notice - something YouTube had missed.Domtendo had been a little bit confused right from the start; the strikes didn't make sense. Like countless other creators, Domtendo specializes in Let's Play" videos, a well-established genre where streamers play through the entirety of a game on camera.The next copyright strike will close your channel"Nintendo has a complicated relationship with the fans who use its copyrighted works, infamously shutting down all sorts of unauthorized projects by sending cease-and-desists. It has gone after YouTubers, too. But both the Japanese gaming giant and the broader... Read the full story at The Verge.

Some EVs in stock on the Hertz Car Sales site. | Screenshot: The Verge Hertz has contacted multiple electric vehicle renters recently with interesting low-cost offers for cars like Teslas, offering them the option to buy their rental EVs instead of returning them. One 2023 Model 3 renter shared on Reddit that they were offered a price of $17,913, which is similar to deals currently showing on the Hertz Car Sales site. However, the rental they were in had about 30,000 miles on it - fewer than other current listings.Another renter was offered a 2023 Chevy Bolt for $18,442, while a Polestar 2 renter says they saw a $28,500 purchase price. The used cars come with a limited 12-month, 12,000-mile powertrain warranty and a buy-back offer within 7 days.Asked by The Verge if this was a special offer for EVs or a typical offer for Hertz's used cars, communications director Jamie Line confirmed the strategy isn't new, saying, By connecting our rental customers who opt into our emails to our sales channels, we're not only building awareness of the fact that we sell cars but also offering a unique opportunity to someone who may be in the market for the same car they have on rent."Last year, Hertz decided to scale back its big ambitions to electrify its rental fleet due to low customer demand and repair difficulties on some models, including the Tesla Model 3. Then, in February, Hertz said it would no longer buy Polestar 2 vehicles either before marking 30,000 Teslas to sell off from its rental fleet.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Here's what to watch over the holidays in case all those live sports broadcasts don't work out. Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Glasses may be more promising as the head-worn computers of the future - and there's a chance Apple might be looking in that direction. Apple's Vision Pro headset is an incredible piece of technology, but even Apple's design and marketing magic hasn't been enough to convince many people to don a VR headset for an entire day. Instead, people seem more willing to use discreet wearables like Bluetooth headphones, smartwatches, and products like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses - so Apple's headset isn't making the waves the company would have wanted.Of course, an instant transformation of the computing landscape wasn't exactly the point of the Vision Pro. Apple was clearly launching its headset for Apple enthusiasts, first adopters, and people who love VR. At a starting price of $3,499, the barrier of entry was just too high to expect the device to be a hit from the jump. Even CEO Tim Cook called it an early-adopter product." Would you really want to wear this all day? Nearly a year from launch, though, Apple hasn't done enough to demonstrate why the Vision Pro should be a potential showcase of the future of computing. It's taking a long time to put together its immersive content library, and while those are great demonstrations of what's possible, the videos have been short and isolating. There aren't many great games, either.Yes, Apple keeps adding cool new software features. The wide and ultra widescreen settings for using a Mac display seem exceptionally useful. But those are pretty specific options for pretty specific use cases. There still isn't an immediate, obvious reason to buy a Vision Pro the way there usually is with the company's newest iPhones and Macs. If I bought a Vision Pro today, I wouldn't know what to do with it besides give myself a bigger Mac screen or watch movies, and I don't think either of those are worth the exorbitant price.It seems Apple may have already acknowledged that the Vision Pro might not be the future, either. The company has reportedly scaled back production and focused efforts on a cheaper version of the headset (perhaps just called Apple Vision?).If Apple still wants to make a splash in VR, the company might need to race to get its next product out the door. It can be argued that Meta has the best VR headsets and ecosystem on the market right now - and a very clear lineup for consumers to consider. Its most affordable offering is the $299 Quest 3S, which has the same chip as the $499 Quest 3, meaning you can access the same experiences across both headsets. The price difference between the two largely comes down to displays and storage, and I'd argue that the cheaper Quest 3S is an excellent VR headset for most people. The Meta Quest Pro, which launched at $1,499, was a flop. But like the Vision Pro, Meta hasn't really found a way to make its headsets much more than a great way to play VR games. The Quest Pro, which Meta pitched in part as a headset for work, was such a flop that the company discontinued it only two years after it launched. Horizon Worlds, the company's 3D social network, still feels amateur and barren, despite the company's efforts to make it a better place to hang out.When I put on a Meta headset, I find that I just want to play games, either serious titles like Batman: Arkham Shadow or lighter fare like Maestro, where you conduct a virtual orchestra. I don't care about the mixed reality features except to glance at my phone or computer screen to make a note or check notifications. You can make a pretty solid living selling game consoles, as Sony and Nintendo know very well, but it's a far cry from the full-fledged computing platform Mark Zuckerberg once promised.I just don't know if any tech company is going to crack the code on how to make VR headsets anything but solo technology. Yes, you can use VR headsets to interact with other people over the internet. But putting on a VR headset at home means I can't look my wife in the eye; if I'm going to look at a screen, I'd prefer to look at one that we can share or that I can easily put off to the side. And even if you're fine with VR being mostly a solo thing, VR headsets don't fit neatly into everyday life unless you have a good amount of space in your home for them. (And hopefully your controllers haven't run out of battery power!) Maybe AR glasses are the way to go. Perhaps that's why glasses seem like a much more promising option for computers that you wear on your face. Augmented reality glasses have been an aspirational goal for a long time, and you can see why. It's much easier to make eye contact with somebody while you're wearing glasses. Meta may have already proved that the glasses form factor works: its relatively simple Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which have a camera, speakers, and look fashionable, are already a huge hit.If glasses-equipped cameras do truly go mainstream, I have some concerns that I've already written about. But I also wrote about the immediate appeal of the tech: whenever I wear the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, I find myself snapping tons of photos because it's so much fun to capture my point of view without holding up a phone. And because they look like regular glasses, I can walk around and most people will think that they're glasses, unlike a VR headset, which just looks silly in public.It seems that Apple might be eyeing computer glasses as well; the company reportedly launched an internal study about the market. I think even glasses with some basic tech would make way more sense for Apple than a VR headset, especially if they let you easily snap photos and listen to podcasts. These devices could be years off, though, meaning that, right now, Apple is stuck selling VR headsets that barely anyone wants.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images These days, podcasts are going video, and there are a number of visual trends we've noticed - some good, some not so much. We'll show you. Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images This year showed that a roguelike can be almost anything. Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images We got a healthy dose of Star Wars and Marvel shows on Disney Plus this year, but the more mature series from Hulu helped balance things out. Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images It was another sci-fi-heavy year for Apple's streaming service. Read the full story at The Verge.

Hi, Barbie! The Barbie Phone, much like the doll it pays tribute to, is a thing of beauty. But like that doll whose proportions, historically, are impossible, the Barbie Phone just isn't built for the modern world.Even if the ultra-feminine aesthetic isn't your thing - and it's not really mine - you have to hand it to the Barbie flip phone. From the box it comes in, to the interchangeable back plates, rhinestone stickers, and Barbie-fied interface, it's a delight. The charger and battery are both pink, though they're a lighter shade than Mattel's trademarked Barbie Pink (Pantone 219). The phone says Hi Barbie!" when you turn it on. It's the definition of committing to the bit.The breezy fun of the Barbie aesthetic, Pantone 219 or otherwise, is at odds with the actual experience of using the phone. It's based on one of HMD's feature phones, and it runs an operating system called KaiOS. The phone is designed for basic connectivity - texting, calling, emails - and even includes a web browser.According to HMD, in addition to being cute, the nostalgic design and limited feature set are supposed to encourage you to disconnect and spend time with your friends IRL. There are a series of... Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images This year paved the way for a future where earbuds are much more than audio accessories. Read the full story at The Verge.

An Ioniq 5 using a CCS to NACS adapter to charge at a Supercharger. | Image: Hyundai Hyundai announced it will start distributing free CCS to Tesla NACS adapters to its EV customers in the first quarter of 2025. The adapters will enable vehicles such as the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 to connect to 20,000-plus" Tesla Supercharger stations. The free adapter is available to those who purchased or leased their Hyundai EVs on or before January 31st, 2025.The NACS adapter deal includes 2024 and earlier Kona Electric, Ioniq hatchback, Ioniq 5, and Ioniq 6. It also includes the 2025 Ioniq 6, 2025 Ioniq 5 N, 2025 Kona Electric, and Genesis brand EVs (a full list will be revealed next year). You can request the free adapter through the My Hyundai owner portal.Hyundai's sister brand, Kia, is also giving free NACS adapters to some owners starting in early 2025.Meanwhile, the 2025 Ioniq 5 with a native Tesla port will have Supercharger access as soon as it ships to customers. Tesla posted on X that it has already flipped the switch, enabling the 2025 Ioniq 5 to charge at Superchargers. Still, owners with older CCS-native models must wait for the Hyundai-approved adapters to get access.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images After its victory against Google in an antitrust trial earlier this year, the Department of Justice recently proposed a sweeping set of changes its search business. The DOJ put a lot on the table, demanding that Google sell its Chrome browser, syndicate its search results, and avoid exclusive deals with companies like Apple for default search placement. It even kept open the possibility of forcing an Android sale.Now, Google has responded with a far simpler proposal: prohibit those default placement deals, and only for three years.A court found Google liable for unlawfully monopolizing online search, and its remedies are supposed to reset the market, letting rivals fairly compete. Google (obviously) disagrees that it's running a monopoly, but before it can appeal that underlying conclusion, it's trying to limit the fallout if it loses.Google's justification is that search deals were at the heart of the case, so they're what a court should target. Under the proposal, Google couldn't enter deals with Android phone manufacturers that require adding mobile search in exchange for access to other Google apps. It couldn't require phone makers to exclude rival search engines or... Read the full story at The Verge.

Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge A collection of fun, affordable, and unique gifts fit for everyone on your list. Read the full story at The Verge.

Performance upgrades and screen improvements make the new Paperwhite's minor updates feel more substantial. Three years have passed since Amazon last updated its flagship e-reader, and while this year's Kindle lineup seemed focused on Amazon's first color offering, the Paperwhite still got some welcome improvements. With a higher-contrast screen and snappier performance, the 12th-generation Kindle Paperwhite remains the best e-reader on the market.I tested the $199.99 Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, which is $40 more than the $159.99 basic Paperwhite. The screen and internals are the same, but the Signature Edition includes an ambient light sensor for automatic brightness adjustments, 32GB of storage rather than 16GB, no lockscreen ads, wireless charging, and a metallic finish on the back. The metallic jade version I was sent looked great (metallic black and raspberry are also options) but felt slightly less grippy than the plastic of the base Paperwhite.The new Paperwhite features a 300ppi screen with a small bump in size from 6.8 to seven inches - not really enough to be noticeable, but enough to let you squeeze a few extra lines of text on a page. Thanks to smaller bezels, the new Paperwhite is just a few millimeters larger than the previous version while managing to be slightly thinner; in use, it feels nearly identical. This year's model also brings the display flush with the bezels, although it's another subtle improvement. The new Paperwhite (right) has noticeably improved screen contrast over the previous version (left). What is noticeable is the increased contrast. Thanks to the use of an oxide thin-film transistor on the screen, the new Paperwhite has the highest contrast ratio of any e-reader I've ever tested. The benefits aren't immediately obvious when you're reading plain text, but the deeper blacks make the screen look closer to an actual printed page. It gives illustrations, pictures, and book covers more pop and presence, and makes comics and manga panels look sharper. The new screen occasionally made some of the fine text in Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto's Ultimate Spider-Man: Married with Children appear bolder and easier to read without zooming in.It's not a feature that's as flashy as a color E Ink screen, but it's easily the new model's best upgrade, and it's going to make it hard to return to my Kobo Libra 2. The Paperwhite released in 2021 (left) compared to the new 2024 version (right). Amazon has also improved the new Paperwhite's lighting, giving the screen a more neutral tone at its default settings. The last generation Paperwhite's screen skews a little cooler, but with both Paperwhite models' warmth sliders turned up, the differences are indistinguishable.This is also the first Paperwhite to use a dual-core processor (the Oasis, rest in peace, had a dual-core processor back in 2017). The 1GHz Mediatek CPU would be painfully slow for a device with an LCD screen, but it makes a big difference on an e-reader. Amazon's claims of 25 percent faster page turns weren't noticeable when I was reading text - the refresh rate of the E Ink screen is the limiting factor there - but I was genuinely surprised at how much faster it opened half-gigabyte, image-heavy PDF files I sideloaded. On the 11th-generation Paperwhite there's a pause that makes me wonder if the device is going to choke on the files, but the new Paperwhite opens them instantaneously and flips through the pages nearly as fast as it does with plain text.The user interface also feels faster. It's still not as fast or responsive as a smartphone or tablet, and zooming in and out of comics and photos can still feel sluggish, but scrolling through book lists, navigating Amazon's book store, and popping in and out of various menus is satisfyingly speedy. Or at least as speedy as it can be with the limitations of E Ink.Amazon claims the new Paperwhite can be used for up to 12 weeks between charges, but that's when limiting your reading to just 30 minutes a day at half screen brightness and wireless features turned off. After an hour reading, jumping back and forth between books and PDFs, and browsing other titles on Amazon's online store with screen brightness set to 75 percent, the new Paperwhite lost five percent of its charge. With that daily routine I'd expect to squeeze about three weeks out of the Paperwhite's battery, and potentially even longer if I wasn't so indecisive about what I was reading.If you're a Kindle user who's upgraded in the past few years, the new Paperwhite's functionality will feel familiar. If you're switching from competitors like Kobo, you may find yourself running into some frustrating limitations. Sideloading documents like PDFs or ePUB files is harder than it needs to be, since Kindle devices no longer connect to computers as external drives. You need to use Amazon's online services or desktop apps to get e-books and other documents onto the Paperwhite, and both options are clunky.Text customization is also limited in the Kindle OS compared to Kobo devices, which offer finer adjustments for font size, line spacing, and margins. Although I find the Paperwhite's formatting options too simplified, I can see the appeal for those wanting a device that's very easy to use. I like that you can save your adjustments as custom themes - it's a feature I wish Kobo would add - but I can't understand why Amazon limits each device to just five custom themes.Borrowing library books is also easier on a Kobo. The new Paperwhite still requires you to use the Libby app or website on a separate device to browse and borrow titles. Kobo's e-readers have Overdrive built-in, and while they do obfuscate the borrowing process, you don't need to pull out your phone to do so. The Kobo Clara BW (left) introduced earlier this year has a smaller recessed screen that doesn't look as good as the new Paperwhite (right). But Kobo seems to be focusing on color e-readers and larger E Ink note-taking devices these days, and its black-and-white e-reader options are now limited. The $129.99 Kobo Clara BW uses the same E Ink Carta 1300 screen as the new Paperwhite, but it's only six inches, and its contrast doesn't look as good. Its all-plastic body and sunken screen also feel cheaper than the new Paperwhite's. And while the $269.99 Kobo Sage has page turn buttons and stylus support, it's more of a hybrid e-reader and note-taking device; I find that the eight-inch screen makes it too big to be a take-anywhere e-reader. The Kindle Colorsoft (left) next to the new Paperwhite (right). Although it's not a significant upgrade, the new Kindle Paperwhite remains the best e-reader you can buy, with a beautiful black-and-white screen that feels closer to printed paper than any e-reader I've tested and a UI that's faster and more responsive than the previous version. If you're on the hunt for your first e-reader, the new Paperwhite should be at the top of your list.Although the basic Amazon Kindle is cheaper at $109.99, the better screen, adjustable warmth lighting, and waterproofing - extra insurance if you read in the bath or at the beach - make the new Paperwhite worth the extra money. The new Paperwhite Signature Edition is available with a back panel featuring a metallic jade or raspberry finish that looks great but feels slightly less grippy. Is the Signature Edition worth an extra $40? Wireless charging isn't necessary given the Paperwhite's battery life, and it can be frustrating to align properly. But the ambient light sensor can save you the swipe and tap needed to adjust screen brightness manually if you take your Kindle everywhere (warmth settings don't automatically adjust) and extra storage is always welcome on a device with no memory card slot. When you factor in the $20 Amazon charges to remove lockscreen ads from the basic Paperwhite, the Signature Edition is the way to go.Unless you read a lot of large PDF files and are frustrated by laggy performance, the new Paperwhite isn't a necessary upgrade over the 2021 model. But it's a different story if you've got an even older Paperwhite model or other aging Kindle. When you add up the past six years of improvements - including USB-C, color-temp-adjustable lighting, a larger screen with better contrast, and better performance - it's probably time to consider an upgrade.Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge

Image: Focus Features Robert Eggers' Nosferatu gets at the heart of what makes vampires an eternally fascinating fixture in our sexual imaginations. Even if you haven't seen F.W. Murnau's original Nosferatu or read Bram Stoker's Dracula, those stories have undoubtedly shaped your ideas about vampires. They weren't the first tales about undead ghouls rising from the grave to suck the blood out of the living. But by presenting their monsters in such wildly innovative ways, they became a blueprint from which countless subsequent tales took inspiration. Writer / director Robert Eggers knows that his Nosferatu remake would be hard-pressed to scare audiences who cut their teeth watching a multitude of Draculas and demon hunters menacing one another on the big and small screens.But rather than trying to work around that obstacle with experimental riffs on vampire lore, the new film accepts it as fact while inviting you to imagine what it might have felt like to experience this kind of disturbing story for the first time when they were new. You can feel Eggers working to conjure an atmosphere of psychosexual dread, and you can see him using modern filmmaking techniques to create haunting visuals evocative of early 20th century cinema. Though it cleaves very close to the original while incorporating elements from other vampire classics, this Nosferatu puts far more focus on the interiority of its central heroine as she grapples with her deep-seated longing to be taken by an avatar of death.Vampire" is not a word that many people are familiar with in Nosferatu's depiction of 19th century Wisborg, Germany, but after years of being tormented by psychic visions of a shadowy presence, Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) is no stranger to living in fear of the supernatural. Despite her constant feeling of being misunderstood, Ellen's days are filled with joy thanks to her realtor husband Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) and best friend Anna Harding (Emma Corrin). But Ellen's nights of sleepwalking through her deathly quiet mansion are harrowing because of the way a mysterious voice from within beckons her to give in to her darkest, most unsettling desires.Even when Ellen is awake, she can sense that somehow, somewhere, something is watching and waiting for an opportunity to make her its own. No matter how much Ellen insists that danger is afoot, though, all her loved ones can see is a woman on the brink of a mental breakdown. It's much easier for Thomas and Anna's husband, Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), to dismiss her fears as symptoms of a wandering uterus rather than consider whether there might be more to her premonitions. It's even hard for Anna - a mother to two young girls - not to assume that Ellen's troubles are rooted in the fact that she and Thomas have no children of their own. But Ellen and the sinister voice in her head both know that, while sex is definitely on her mind, having kids is not.Nosferatu's depiction of Ellen is one of the clearer examples of Eggers combining aspects of the 1922 film and Stoker's novel to create a new take on the character that feels both true to the source materials and deeper than the sum of its parts. The movie presents Ellen as the kind of woman who, even without her visions, would still feel smothered by the misogynistic social norms of her era. Ellen's powers are an innate part of who she is, as is the way they often send her into fits of moaning that, to onlookers, read as explicitly orgasmic.Ellen struggles to remember or articulate much of what she experiences during her nocturnal premonitions. But Nosferatu spells it out plainly as it first shows you how Transylvanian Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) is the one calling out to her through their seemingly inexplicable telepathic connection. The mechanics of Ellen and Orlok's bond is another detail that Eggers has retooled just enough to make it work as a point of intrigue. It's obvious that this is a film about a vampire who wants to sink his teeth into an unsuspecting woman's flesh. But Nosferatu cleverly leaves you wondering how, exactly, Orlok first came to know about his latest target. Establishing that link early on adds a delicious layer of dread to Nosferatu's story as Thomas' presence is requested in Transylvania, where he's meant to assist an eccentric" nobleman purchase a new home. We can see that Orlok is orchestrating some kind of elaborate plan to insert himself into Ellen's life, but what's fun is the way none of the film's characters have any frame of reference cluing them in to the fact that they're dancing through the motions of a classic Dracula period piece like Tod Browning's 1931 adaptation.Contemporary horror movies about people who don't know standard horror movie beats are frustrating because they pull you out of the fantasy. Eggers previously worked around that by focusing his films on characters planted firmly in times when their fears of the surrounding world and their own feelings could give rise to creatures they had never seen before. This Nosferatu is doing something similar, but because its story stays so true to the original, it also feels like Eggers is encouraging you to appreciate it as a thoughtful remake rather than a film trying to reinvent vampires.This becomes clearer as Nosferatu shows you more of Orlok's ability to project his shadow across Europe to menace Ellen with promises of untold pleasure. On a technical level, it's clear that Eggers is creating scenes that Murnau could have only dreamed of, but you also get the sense that this is exactly the kind of alarming energy that made Max Schreck's Orlok so frightening when he first appeared onscreen. To that end, this Nosferatu works hard to make you feel Orlok's presence more than it actually tries to show you what he looks like as his plans begin taking shape. He's lurking in Ellen's mind but also in Thomas' fears that he might not be able to satisfy his wife's needs. Skarsgard's Orlok is skincrawling once the film gets around to fixing the camera squarely on his face, but much of the count's essence is channeled through the way Depp and Hoult inhabit Ellen and Thomas. Ellen vacillates between terror, shame, and arousal to make you feel exactly what kinds of designs Orlok has. And Thomas' guileless confusion when he encounters clearly supernatural things speaks volumes to Orlok's ability to misdirect his unsuspecting victims.While Nosferatu isn't trying to shock you with its plot or gory deaths, it does want to impress you with its arresting visuals. We've seen Eggers work in black and white before, but the way Nosferatu frequently shifts into a near-monochromatic palette of blacks and blues is a brilliantly artful trick evocative of blood draining out of a face in fear. Those moments help make Nosferatu feel like a uniquely inspired presentation of vampires as beings of darkness. But beyond their aesthetic beauty, they also highlight the extent to which Eggers has crafted Nosferatu as a tribute to films from Murnau and Browning.It's rare to see a remake that so effectively celebrates its predecessors while also realizing its own distinct vision, but that's what is going to make Nosferatu an instant horror classic when it hits theaters on December 25th.Nosferatu also stars Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson, and Simon McBurney.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Despite loud proclamations, AI on smartphones is still mostly a sideshow. Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Not even authority, just the signifiers of authority Read the full story at The Verge.