Super 8 hotels arent exactly known for luxury and high-end amenities. Thats why their prices have been historically low.You know‚ they';re called Super 8 because it used to be $8 to stay there for the night‚ says Pat Gray.However‚ the massive budget hotel chain apparently saw yesterdays total eclipse as an opportunity to make big bucks. And while increased prices during peak seasons and high-interest events is common‚ one Super 8 hotel in Granville‚ Illinois‚ took things a bit far.For this eclipse event‚ [one room] went from $95 a night to $949 a night an outrageous 898.9% increase.Now‚ its their right to do [that]‚ says Pat‚ adding that were all capitalists.However‚ if I were driving past a Super 8 and I needed a place to stay‚ I';m not going there because you raised your price 10 times‚ but that is a factor of capitalism‚ he acknowledges.But Super 8 wasnt the only chain to increase prices for the event. To find out what the Dallas Ritz Carlton charged‚ watch the clip below.Want more from Pat Gray?To enjoy more of Pat';s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world‚ subscribe to BlazeTV the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America‚ defend the Constitution‚ and live the American dream.

Movies arent quite high-tech these days‚ but that doesnt mean theyre not still at the forefront of the planetary war for technological control of citizens and countries. Thats the lesson underscored by fresh revelations about streaming giant Netflixs abrupt cancellation of its plans to release the ";John Wick";-style action movie ";Monkey Man.";Its a tale unique to the age of digitally driven globalization. British actor Dev Patel‚ perhaps still best known as the lead in ";Slumdog Millionaire‚"; struck gold in 2021 when Netflix bought the worldwide rights to his beat-';em-up thriller‚ inspired by an ancient Hindu legend‚ set in the deeper recesses of Indias criminal underworld. But last year‚ the company balked. The public rationale was an abstract unease about the films relation to political issues. However‚ as the Wrap recently reported‚ Netflixs concerns were anything but vague.The background is bloodless enough. Netflix is desperately trying to gain ground in India‚ the worlds most populous country‚ the Wrap noted. While Amazon has managed to defend its share of streaming original content there‚ Netflixs share of demand in India has slid for the last three years and accelerated through most of 2023‚ dropping from a high of 41% in January 2023 to 30% in October.The stomach-turning prospect of further losses spoiled Netflixs appetite for anything that might risk poorer performance. ";Monkey Mans"; villain just happens to bear more than a passing resemblance to Narendra Modi‚ Indias widely popular Hindu nationalist prime minister‚ currently enjoying his tenth year in office.But heres where things get complicated. After the films standing-O reception at South by Southwest‚ blowback about its political sensibilities swiftly began in America not because of any possible insult to Modi and his Hindutva beliefs but because of a perceived proximity of Patel himself to the ideology‚ which is coded in the woke West as historically problematic.Patels character sometimes uncomfortably falls into a similar category as [prominent Hindu monk and minister Yogi] Adityanath and Modi‚ the Wrap cautioned‚ citing a negative post-South by Southwest review scolding the language and imagery adopted by Patels character for falling discomfortingly [sic] in line with Hindutva itself. The Wrap dutifully echoed that criticism‚ albeit parenthetically‚ noting that the stories that inspired Patel‚ and his character‚ also have a queasy history.What was Netflix bothered about: ";Monkey Mans"; oblique dig at Modi or its apparent sympathies for his theological-political convictions? All of the above‚ most likely: focused obsessively on outperforming its megacorp digital rival in the worlds largest single-country market‚ Netflix risked getting caught in a crossfire of flak woke backlash from Westerners and ostensibly theocratic outrage from Hindutva Indians defending the Modi regime.And that doesnt even consider the films inclusion of trans characters.Cultural patronage So‚ how did ";Monkey Man"; make it out of sensitivity hell? Completing the intersectional circuit‚ Patel was rescued by Jordan Peele‚ the near-universally acclaimed black auteur (whose own shingle‚ as they say in Hollywood‚ is coincidentally named Monkeypaw Productions). Peele‚ whose ";Get Out"; and ";Us"; elevated him to a bankable plane of cultural cachet virtually beyond criticism‚ took ";Monkey Man"; as he found it as a high-octane passion project that would deliver for mainstream viewers.I was instantly blown away by the cinematic generosity of his film‚ he gushed. I watched it alone but could hear the audiences reactions in my head. I knew the movie demanded a theatrical run. Peele ran‚ not walked‚ to Universal Studios‚ a less fussy‚ more old-school stalwart hip to how much we love audience-pleasing genre films that come from unexpected perspectives.In other words‚ Peele cannily recognized whats obvious to anyone capable of not overthinking it: ";Monkey Man"; is not propaganda but art‚ big-time art‚ made by a proper artist‚ aimed at more or less ordinary people. But Peele also picked up on whats a little less obvious nowadays but at least as necessary: Art like ";Monkey Man‚"; capable of broad reach and relevance‚ will die out if gatekeepers insist on seeing it as either propaganda or at risk of being seen as propaganda.Understandably‚ this worry has become an obsession today after all‚ we are in a global digital and spiritual war‚ and propaganda‚ often in subtler forms‚ is a primary weapon in that war. But at a time when the nature of the present war concerns the capability of the would-be winners to technologically control our very experience of reality‚ the ability of billions of ordinary people to process the overwhelming situation unfolding around us depends in great measure on art that soulfully unites and reflects on both the topical and the timeless. Despite noisy hype that the AI revolution will render all previous media irrelevant‚ the truth is that televisual tech still provides an unparalleled medium in terms of reach and relevance for artists to commune with audiences in a shared creation and contemplation of the mystery of our human being.Im willing to stipulate that sounds like a lot more than what a violent‚ gritty flick like ";Monkey Man"; brings to the table. On the other hand‚ life is violent‚ gritty‚ and a lot more besides. Our suffering defines human life why we experience it‚ what we make of it‚ and how its profundity in the deep crucible of our hearts might draw us ever closer to God according to His incomprehensible will. The disenchantment of art through todays wartime obsession with morphing all content into propaganda looms large in the spiritual war entangled with our digital one. As bad as it is for entertainment to become the plaything of politics‚ the greater peril is much more brutally ironic: that‚ driven by fear‚ we forget altogether how to make art‚ without which our fears rush toward us unmediated‚ from all directions‚ without mercy. Monkey Man | Official Trailer 2youtu.be

It won';t come as a huge surprise‚ but the Lenovo Legion Go 2 is confirmed‚ although the name is subject to change. Lenovo';s gaming category manager for the APAC region‚ Clifford Chong‚ discussed the likelihood of the next-generation handheld‚ but tempered expectations when it comes to a timeline.The Lenovo Legion Go is one of the best handheld gaming PCs that money can buy‚ largely down to its huge 8.8-inch‚ 1600p display. It often catches comparisons to the Nintendo Switch‚ thanks to its removable controllers‚ but it has much more powerful gaming hardware under the hood than the Switch‚ including an AMDRyzen Z1 Extreme CPU. Continue reading Lenovo confirms new Legion Go‚ but will it launch before Steam Deck 2?MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card‚ Best gaming PC‚ Best SSD for gaming

Runa‚ an upcoming JRPG from indie team Fennec Studio‚ makes a strong first impression. Its visuals draw from visually striking genre entries‚ like Persona 5 in its splashy‚ comic book style combat menus and character portraits and Genshin Impact in the lush‚ colorful overworld its characters explore. Fennec has detailed plenty of game features that make Runa seem like it will have plenty of appeal beneath its surface as well‚ though‚ which has put its upcoming launch on our radar. Continue reading Persona 5 meets Genshin Impact in upcoming indie JRPG

EK has just released the rather inelegantly-dubbed‚ but ingeniously-derived‚ EK Nucleus AIO Replacement Cover - Creator Kit. This simple little sub-$10 doohickey is a way for users to easily adda truly custom design to their gaming PC by way ofan illuminated top plate on their EK Nucleus AIO cooler.The idea behind the... let';s just call it the Creator Kit‚ is that owners of RGB-lit EK Nucleus AIO coolers can create their own custom 3D-printed designs to place on top of their AIO cooler';s pump housing. With such customization options‚ we might have to consider adding a few EKmodels to our best AIO cooler guide. Continue reading EK just created my new favorite way to customize your gaming PCMORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card‚ Best gaming PC‚ Best SSD for gaming

I played 40 games during my time at PAX East and GDC‚ and none of them were even close to rivaling Lucid. I walked into my demo feeling haggard and road-weary; late nights and over a week on the road working videogame conventions is fun‚ but it also takes a toll - and this was my last demo of the trip. But speaking with Eric Manahan‚ the founder of Matte Black Studio and solo developer behind Lucid‚ was restorative. His excitement to show off his first game was infectious‚ andLucideasily lived up to the high expectations he set for me. Continue reading Mega Man and Doom collide in slick new indie platformerMORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best platform games‚ Best Metroidvania games‚ Best indie games

If there';s one thing missing from ancient Greece‚ it';s the depressing lack of clockwork airships. Thankfully‚ developer Loric Games is looking to rectify that with the upcoming Echoes of Elysium‚ a steampunk survival crafting RPG game set in the heavens. Set on the mythical world of Elysium‚ this co-op crafter will see players build and maintain their own airships‚ exploringa procedural world filled with ruins‚ dangers‚ and mysteries. Continue reading No Mans Sky meets Sea of Thieves in new clockwork airship RPGMORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best survival games‚ Best RPG games‚ Best upcoming PC games

Rollercoaster Tycoon in any of its original guises is not a game that needs a fancy new graphics makeover. So much of its charm is in its of-its-time graphics. However‚ we';re not ones to say no to a little bit of free ray tracing. That';s why we';re all too happy to see there';s an RTX Remix mod in the works for Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 - the first truly 3D version of the series. Continue reading RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 looks stunning in new Nvidia ray tracing modMORE FROM PCGAMESN: GeForce RTX 4070 Super review‚ DLSS explained‚ Best graphics cards

When a multiplayer game';s servers are shut down‚ that';s usually the last we ever hear from it. Because of this‚ we assumed that Gigantic‚ which blended the hero shooter approach of a game like Overwatch with MOBA design reminiscent of League of Legends or Dota 2‚ was gone forever when its servers went quiet in 2018‚ about a year after its launch. This hasn';t turned out to be the case. Gigantic has now come out once again through a new premium version‚ Gigantic: Rampage Edition‚ which has just landed on Steam. Continue reading Abandoned MOBA and shooter hybrid returns with new edition on SteamMORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best Gigantic heroes

The city of Oakland has experienced a dramatic crime surge since 2020 as arrests plunge and the police department struggles to fill vacancies.