Review: Marvel Experience through a 3D simulation

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Updated 15 January 2023

Review: Marvel Experience through a 3D simulation

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  • Riyadh Season 2022 contains 15 diverse entertainment zones that feature everything from cable car transportation and cloud-embracing lounges to international Cirque du Soleil shows and sporting events

The Marvel Experience interactive entertainment area at the Superhero Village in Boulevard World, one of the Riyadh Season zones, allows visitors to see what it’s like to live inside the comics through 3D technology and virtual reality games.

The exciting journey begins with a meeting with the creator of the famous characters, Stan Lee, who introduces visitors to the story behind the Marvel and Avengers wars and instructs them on how to use superhero weapons through the shooting wall.

Marvel fans can also fly in an Iron Man costume and interact with virtual reality screens in the area.

The experience includes a training area that allows visitors to play virtual reality games, solve puzzles and search for lost data against a time limit, test the strength of their favorite superheroes, and fight as a soldier in a Marvel battle.

The Marvel Experience tour ends with a photography and shopping area, which offers Marvel models and games as souvenirs and documents fun moments with photographs featuring Marvel’s popular superheroes through a 3D simulation.

Tickets can be booked via the following link: https://riyadhseason.sa/event-details-en.html?id=786/en_Boulevard_World

Riyadh Season 2022 contains 15 diverse entertainment zones that feature everything from cable car transportation and cloud-embracing lounges to international Cirque du Soleil shows and sporting events such as WWE and the Riyadh Season Cup, which brings together the Paris Saint-Germain team with stars from Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr football clubs.

There are also 65 days of fireworks, a range of Saudi and Arab plays, concerts, local and international exhibitions, and a variety of other events for families and individuals.

 


Review: Keira Knightley shines as dogged reporter in ‘Boston Strangler’  

Review: Keira Knightley shines as dogged reporter in ‘Boston Strangler’  
Updated 21 March 2023

Review: Keira Knightley shines as dogged reporter in ‘Boston Strangler’  

Review: Keira Knightley shines as dogged reporter in ‘Boston Strangler’  

CHENNAI: Although the term “serial killer” wasn’t coined until about a decade after the events of new film “Boston Strangler,” out now on Disney+ in the Middle East, the Keira Knightley-starring thriller delves into the case of one of the US’s most notorious serial killers, who police say killed 13 women between 1962-64.  

Writer-director Matt Ruskin weaves this true-crime tale into a film following two female reporters who charted the case for local newspaper the Record American at the time.  

What is great about Ruskin’s work is its novel approach — it has a significant splash of gender politics (which is crucial considering all the killer’s victims were women) as we see how reporters Loretta McLaughlin (played with compelling ease by Knightley) and Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) fight a male-dominated police force and to help trap the Boston Strangler.  

Besides the police, McLaughlin — who begins by begrudgingly working as a Lifestyle reporter, testing out new toasters — also faces hurdles from her editor, who is reluctant to let her onto the male-dominated crime beat. But after her first front page story draws the ire of Boston Police Commissioner McNamara (Bill Camp), the editor asks another reporter, Cole, to help McLaughlin and there is no stopping the two dogged journalists, whose passion and dedication finally help get the Strangler (well, sort of — real life events saw  Albert DeSalvo fail to be convicted of any of the murders, although he did confess to them, before a posthumous DNA test in 2013 revealed he did in fact murder the last victim, Mary Sullivan).  

There are dramatic liberties taken as anyone who dives deeper into the real story will realize after a quick Google search, but the film is riveting.  

Interestingly, 30 years after the murders, McLaughlin wrote an article in the Boston Globe about what egged her on to chase the case. 

“An editor disputed the worth of a series on the four dead women, noting that they were ‘nobodies,’” she wrote. “That was it exactly, I felt. Why should anyone murder four obscure women. That was what made them so interesting… sisters in anonymity, like all of us.”  

Paul Leonard-Morgan’s score is creepy enough to get our hair to stand up on end, though Ruskin wisely avoids showing gore, relying instead on lighting and cinematic tension to instill a sense of horror. 


Travis Scott, Calvin Harris hit the Formula 1 stage in Jeddah

Travis Scott, Calvin Harris hit the Formula 1 stage in Jeddah
Updated 20 March 2023

Travis Scott, Calvin Harris hit the Formula 1 stage in Jeddah

Travis Scott, Calvin Harris hit the Formula 1 stage in Jeddah

JEDDAH: US rapper Travis Scott and Scottish DJ Calvin Harris took to the stage at MDLBEAST’s after-race concert at the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah on Sunday night, just after  Egyptian star Ahmed Saad performed a number of his hits.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by MDLBEAST (@mdlbeast)

Harris performed a number of his chart-topping hits, including “Feels So Close” and “This Is What You Came For,” which features vocals by US singer Rihanna.

Travis Scott got the audience jumping to such crowd-pleasers as “Goosebumps” and “Sicko Mode.”

Travis Scott performed in Jeddah. (Supplied)

US singer Charlie Puth and supergroup Swedish House Mafia performed at the event on Saturday night.

“Light Switch” singer Puth took to the stage with a number of hits from his stellar repertoire — including “One Call Away” — as members of the packed-out crowd held up banners calling for the star’s attention — a play on his chart-topping song “Attention.”

Meanwhile, “Don’t You Worry Child” EDM artists Swedish House Mafia had the crowd bouncing to their anthemic dance music.


Charlie Puth, Swedish House Mafia light up Formula 1 concert in Jeddah

Charlie Puth, Swedish House Mafia light up Formula 1 concert in Jeddah
Updated 19 March 2023

Charlie Puth, Swedish House Mafia light up Formula 1 concert in Jeddah

Charlie Puth, Swedish House Mafia light up Formula 1 concert in Jeddah

DUBAI: US singer Charlie Puth and supergroup Swedish House Mafia performed at MDLBEAST’s after-race concert series at the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah on Saturday night.

“Light Switch” singer Puth took to the stage with a number of hits from his stellar repertoire — including “One Call Away” — as members of the packed-out crowd held up banners calling for the star’s attention — a play on his chart-topping song “Attention.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by MDLBEAST (@mdlbeast)

Meanwhile, “Don’t You Worry Child” EDM artists Swedish House Mafia had the crowd bouncing to their anthemic dance music.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by MDLBEAST (@mdlbeast)

Saudi Arabia-based DJ Sharkk also performed on March 18 during the event at Jeddah Corniche.


Will Smith jets to Saudi Arabia to attend AlUla Camel Cup 

Will Smith jets to Saudi Arabia to attend AlUla Camel Cup 
Updated 18 March 2023

Will Smith jets to Saudi Arabia to attend AlUla Camel Cup 

Will Smith jets to Saudi Arabia to attend AlUla Camel Cup 

DUBAI: Hollywood actor Will Smith was spotted in Saudi Arabia this week attending the inaugural AlUla Camel Cup. 

The star was spotted watching the race with Grammy-winning record producer Swizz Beatz, the first American to own a camel racing team in the Kingdom. 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Swizz Beatz (@therealswizzz)

 

Smith was snapped with Beatz who attended the race to watch competitors from his Saudi Bronx team in action at the venue.

In the series of pictures posted on Saudi Bronx’s Instagram, Smith and Beatz were seen sipping Arabic coffee, which is an essential in Saudi culture.

“Today at the first annual Alula Camel Cup, I had some surprise guest that came to support my team,” Beatz captioned his posts with Smith on Instagram. 


Netflix season two trailer of Georgina Rodriguez’s documentary features glimpses of Dubai

Netflix season two trailer of Georgina Rodriguez’s documentary features glimpses of Dubai
Updated 16 March 2023

Netflix season two trailer of Georgina Rodriguez’s documentary features glimpses of Dubai

Netflix season two trailer of Georgina Rodriguez’s documentary features glimpses of Dubai
  • Riyadh-based Argentinian model recalls painful loss of baby boy
  • Trailers share glimpses of Rodriguez’s 28th birthday in Dubai, interaction with Palestinian-Dutch supermodel Bella Hadid

LONDON: Argentinian model Georgina Rodriguez’s hit Netflix documentary “I am Georgina” is set to return to screens on March 24.

 

The trailer for season two was released on Wednesday, revealing a more up close and personal look behind the seemingly glamorous life of the 29-year-old influencer.

In the opening of the trailer, she said: “Over 40 million people follow me. But no one really knows how I feel.”

Rodriguez recalls the loss of her and Saudi Arabia-based footballer Cristiano Ronaldo’s baby boy, who died during childbirth in April.

“This year I had the best and the worst moment of my life in an instant. Life is hard. Life goes on. I have reasons to move on and be strong,” she added.

Rodriguez noted that partner Ronaldo had encouraged her to strive forward through life, and said her family was now her priority.

The trailer also shared a glimpse from the Riyadh-based celebrity’s 28th birthday in Dubai, when Ronaldo lit up the famous Burj Khalifa tower with clips from Rodriguez’s Netflix show.

Among shots of her with friends, family, and colleagues, were images of her posing alongside Palestinian-Dutch supermodel Bella Hadid. 

 

In January, Rodriguez posted on Instagram that she was, “back on the pitch. #SoyGeorgina: MARCH 2023,” a subtle nod to Ronaldo’s recent move to Saudi football club Al-Nassr.