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It is with broken hearts and sadness the family of Azor Joseph Saulnier announce his passing on Thursday 2025.  He goes to be with his beloved late wife Luella Mary Saulnier and very special grandson David Mitchell.  Azor will be dearly missed by his children Cathy and Ian Cooper Rose and Jamie Benson and Gary and Lisa Saulnier.  Grandchildren April Chris and Aaron and many great-grandchildren.  He will also be missed by his siblings Carmella Louisa and Emile and Therese and Joe.  Predeceased by his parents Samuel and Nelida (nee Girouard) Saulnier and his sister Murielle and his brother Andre Arrangements have been entrusted to the care and direction of Fundy Funeral Home NB (506-646-2424).  Family and friends will be received on Sunday 2025 from 2-6 PM.  A Celebration of Life will take place in the Fundy Chapel Joseph's Cemetery.  Those that wish may make a charitable donation to a cause of their own choosing The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. « Back The Reds were very inactive in the market in 2024 but will surely have to change that this year Exactly what they will need to add to the Liverpool squad will become more clear once the futures of Trent Alexander-Arnold Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are resolved Given the latest news of Real Madrid’s approach for Alexander-Arnold they look likely to need a new right-back at the very least But away from that developing situation, Liverpool also need another option at central defensive midfield And as rumours continue that Liverpool could return for Martin Zubimendi Rennes midfielder Azor Matusiwa has reacted to suggestions that he could be on the Reds’ radar most Liverpool fans would still have a new midfielder at the top of their transfer wish list for 2025 Although Wataru Endo has done well recently Arne Slot clearly does not fully trust the Japanese as a back-up option to Ryan Gravenberch Those three players – along with Dominik Szoboszlai – are good enough to be regular starters for Slot but Liverpool may need a different profile to back them up According to Give Me Sport, Rennes midfielder Azor Matusiwa has come onto the Reds radar as a potential option. And while speaking to Matusiwa himself, the outlet asked him about a possible move to Anfield READ MORE: Liverpool assessing three players as potential summer signings including ‘Usain Bolt of football’ I didn’t know about any links to Liverpool and you are the first person who has told me this,” answered the 26-year-old It means that I am doing a good job at Rennes and that is how I have to continue for the rest of the season “I need to carry on helping the team and then maybe something great will come in the future but I’m not looking at anything like that right now it’s an honour if you get linked with a club like Liverpool.” they will not have heard of Matusiwa before and will be unaware of his qualities coming through the youth academy before making just one appearance for the senior team Matusiwa joined Van Dijk’s former club Groningen before a move to France with Reims in 2021 Good performances for the Ligue 1 side led to the former Netherlands U21 international joining Rennes in January 2024 Matusiwa is as technically gifted as you’d expect but is also very much a defensive midfielder he is not perhaps the blockbuster signing many desire in midfield instilling hopes of a more a more affordable price point from AMD The tale of the Radeon RX 9000 Series launch grows in the telling as AMD has swiftly responded to recent rumours concerning the price of its prospective graphics cards the company’s communications don’t extend past shutting down whispers with any notion of an official word relegated to the nebulous realms of the future In an X post, AMD’s Frank Azor responded to recent claims that Radeon RX 9070 Series pricing could have been close to GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Azor categorically denies that an $899 starting price point was ever a part of the company’s plans While we aren’t going to comment on all the price rumors I can say that an $899 USD starting price point was never part of the plan — Frank Azor (@AzorFrank) January 27, 2025 Until then, we have graphics card goliaths GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 to contend with. Both are due to arrive January 30 and you can expect the Club386 verdict on the latter in due course. If you’re following the site on Google News you’ll get an notification delivered right to your phone as soon as the review lands It's certainly possible that AMD has a 32 GB test card rattling around in its labs everything gets a little crazy on a Friday and the team thought it might be fun But as for one turning up on sale in March No, the 9070 XT card is not coming in 32 GB. https://t.co/SSKCrqSN7SFebruary 13, 2025 32 GB would be over-egging the pudding significantly for a mid-range GPU in case AMD announces the RX 9070 XT Gold Standard edition in a week companies do be doing crazy things sometimes This batch of cards will need to be high-performing (for their product category) and relatively cheap to sell well and that's something that AMD appears to be keenly aware of the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 look like they'll have an uphill battle on their hands this generation to grab some market share for no real reason other than a marketing-friendly number on the box Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals Andy EdserHardware WriterAndy built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 12 when IDE cables were a thing and high resolution wasn't—and he hasn't stopped since Now working as a hardware writer for PC Gamer Andy's been jumping around the world attending product launches and trade shows all the while reviewing every bit of PC hardware he can get his hands on if it's interesting hardware he'll write words about it In context: AMD's Radeon RX 9000 series cards went on sale Thursday, starting at $549 for the RX 9070 and $599 for the RX 9070 XT. Following the launch, some retailers suggested that these new cards would only be available at MSRP for a limited time stating that certain RX 9000 models will continue to be sold at the recommended prices even after initial stock runs out AMD's Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions Frank Azor categorically denied that the $549 / $599 MSRPs are launch-only pricing the company has collaborated with its AIB partners to ensure that "multiple vendors" will continue selling at least some variants of the cards at those prices Azor added that, alongside the base models, manufacturers will also offer overclocked versions with premium configurations at higher prices to cater to different user needs. He further claimed that AMD is working with its partners to maintain a steady supply of RX 9000 cards in the coming weeks Ready for you pic.twitter.com/S66imJtiXN Reports of a possible price increase for the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT began circulating almost immediately after launch. Swedish retailer Inet.se told VideoCardz that the recommended prices would only apply "to a limited number of cards." UK retailer Overclockers stated that only "a few hundred" units would be sold at MSRP Demand today for our new @amdradeon cards has been phenomenal. We are working with our AIBs to replenish stock at our partners ASAP in the coming days and weeks. MSRP pricing (excluding region specific tariffs and/or taxes) will continue to be encouraged beyond today so don't… pic.twitter.com/8VxGioMkev Best Buy added further fuel to the speculation by listing the cards in a way that implied AMD's recommended prices were temporary The retailer advertised its $549 RX 9070 SKUs with a "Save $80" banner and the $599 RX 9070 XT models with a "Save $130" sign suggesting that prices would soon rise to $629 and $729 The Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT have received mostly positive reviews upon release. The RX 9070 XT, in particular was widely praised as a strong competitor to Nvidia's mid-range GPUs and a good value offering The RX 9070 was also recognized as a better value proposition than the RTX 5070 with the potential to be a hit among gamers – provided AMD maintains a steady supply at the promised $549 price point TechSpot is a registered trademark and may not be used by third parties without express written permission TechSpot is represented by Future PLC. Learn about advertising opportunities This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page By 2021-03-03T07:00:00+00:00 A prickly financial thriller set in the murky world of Argentina’s ultrawealthy Private banker Rene Keys has abruptly disappeared leaving behind him nothing but a swirl of unsavoury rumours But the question which preoccupies his business partner and fellow Swiss banker Yvan De Wiel (Fabrizio Rongione) but how to gain the upper hand in a tacit rivalry which persists between them The striking feature film debut from Andreas Fontana brings a prickly thriller sensibility to the closed world of high finance and a piquancy to the phrase ‘dirty money’ Azor’s world of murky elitism is one which is little seen in cinema Fontana crafts a sense of unease and uncertainty which unfolds amid hushed rooms and oppressive luxury; he captures the taint of wealth and privilege in a way which shares a blue-blooded kinship with the work of Lucretia Martel Azor’s world of murky elitism is one which is little seen in cinema; the milieu is distinctive enough – and persuasively realised enough – for the film to enjoy a healthy festival run following its premiere in Berlin’s Encounters strand; arthouse distribution is also a possibility Fontana anchors his story in a particular space and time with the use of an electronic harpsichord on the score – it’s a sound which practically screams retro-intrigue Glimpsed through the window of the limousine which ferries Yvan and his wife Ines (Stéphanie Cléau) to their hotel two young men are stopped at gunpoint by military police Ines appraises the situation and smokes inscrutably something she does rather a lot during the course of the film And while it is through Yvan’s eyes that we trace the spreading stain of his bank’s connections from high society to the gutter and the military junta Ines seems to be a figure of considerable influence behind the scenes She councils her husband to wear “something more tacky” in order not to intimidate the bank’s clients who are understandably jittery at the sniff of scandal following Keys’ disappearance And she snaps her irritation at Yvan when it looks as though he might lose some valuable business which absorbs the traits of those he meets and reflects them back together with the veneer of entitlement which comes with inheriting the family’s bank means that Yvan fits easily into the drawing rooms of the ultrawealthy alongside their bronze statuettes and heirloom tapestries It also helps that he doesn’t ask the wrong questions – not that he needs to The upper classes of Argentina seem inordinately fond of gossip and will drop rumours for favours as casually as they tip a maitre d’ for the best table The look of the film is suitably monied – the gilded palette evokes cognac and well-handled bank notes; the locations are wood-panelled and mostly insulated from the political upheaval which is churning up the country outside this inner circle But Yvan must ultimately follow the money and the money is drawn to the power of the men with guns And while Yvan may find himself laundering the blood money of dictatorship at least he might yet win his unilateral battle of influence with Rene Keys International Sales: Be For Films info@beforfilms.com Company’s latest foray into genre will open theatrically on October 10 Bookmark this page to keep track of all the latest festival dates CAD $90,000 in cash and prizes presented at Friday’s ceremony in Toronto Florence Pugh takes centre stage for this mighty tussle in a post-Avengers world Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong reunite to tell their own story Pleasingly complex murder mystery opened the Hong Kong International Film Festival Screen International is the essential resource for the international film industry access to the Screen International archive and supplements including Stars of Tomorrow and World of Locations Site powered by Webvision Cloud Focus on the assertion that RDNA 4 will be ‘very competitive’ versus Nvidia’s next-gen GPUs AMD has given us some clues as to the price points RDNA 4 graphics cards will land at courtesy of one of Team Red’s execs – and a good deal more interesting info on the next-gen GPUs besides and then sharing these fresh GPU details in another interview Quesada kicked off by questioning Azor on the flimsy RDNA 4 announcement at CES 2025 besides the names and existence of the RX 9070 and 9070 XT – why was this so light on information Azor repeated the assertion already made by AMD that there simply wasn’t time in the 45-minute CES 2025 keynote to fit in RDNA 4 and properly do it justice The marketing chief told us: “What are we announcing here With the announcements of RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 we had dedicated events to present the architecture and performance improvements everyone would be angry with us for not giving the new graphics cards the attention they deserve “That’s why we decided to reserve the announcement of the new graphics cards for a separate event where we can give them proper focus.” Azor also poured cold water on any idea that the next-gen Radeon graphics cards might be delayed (as some theorized as to why AMD kept its 9070 revelations very bare) In other words, AMD needed to ensure that RDNA 4 is competitive with what Nvidia was doing with RTX 5000 (Not just me of course – it’s an obvious enough thought saying this was indeed what AMD was up to) The most interesting part of the interview is the clues about pricing I mentioned at the outset Azor observed: “We’re going to bring a very competitive product [with RDNA 4] “The Radeon RX 7800 XT and RX 7900 GRE offered aggressive pricing for their performance especially in a landscape where prices are constantly rising.” “AMD remains focused on delivering value for money we’ll introduce a powerful graphics card – not a $300 card There’s some refreshing plain speaking here regarding why AMD’s reveal was tissue-thin for details on the RX 9070 models It was to better pitch RDNA 4 to be competitive with what Nvidia has cooked up with the RTX 5000 series The part of the interview relating to RDNA 4 pricing has predictably got every forum and social media outlet buzzing Does this mean AMD is thinking about a $650 price tag for the RX 9070 XT some folks are asking – as that’s the average of the two mentioned low and high prices (a total $1,300 it’s never going to be as simple as that But whatever the RX 9070 XT and its vanilla sibling end up costing AMD is going to make the price to performance ratio stand up and compete with Nvidia’s RTX 5070 in the mid-range Simply given AMD’s chosen name change – to the RX 9070 versus the RTX 5070 – the pricing has to make sense in terms of that showdown The MSRPs will be “very competitive” as Azor puts it based on the relative performance provided by RDNA 4 – and as we don’t know how peppy the RX 9070 XT will be yet trying to work out pricing averages doesn’t make any sense while muttering about a $650 Radeon flagship being a rip-off based on past performance rumors for Navi 48 AMD could well be waiting to test the RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti itself before finalizing pricing for RDNA 4 here If I had to call a most likely price point seems more likely than anything higher than the RTX 5070’s MSRP ($549) that price needs to be viewed through the lens of the card’s performance that means the RX 9070 variants could be on sale at the end of January ahead of the RTX 5070 models which aren’t out until February Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs He has written about tech for the best part of three decades and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013) but taking the opportunity to fire flak at a rival is hardly surprising An AMD executive fired flak at Intel calling Team Blue’s latest Arrow Lake desktop chips ‘horrible’ no less AMD observed that demand has outstripped supply – clearly enough – and the full quote from Frank Azor who heads up consumer and gaming marketing at AMD will surely leave Intel bigwigs suitably unimpressed Azor told Tom’s Hardware: “We knew we built a great part [in the 9800X3D] We didn’t know the competitor [Intel] had built a horrible one [Arrow Lake] So the demand has been a little higher than we forecasted.” We’ll come back to Intel’s misfortunes later but what about the Ryzen 9800X3D stock situation VP and GM of Ryzen channel business at AMD explained: “It’s crazy how much we have increased [our monthly quarterly output of X3D parts] over what we were planning I would say the demand we’ve seen for the 9800X3D and the 7800X3D has been unprecedented So the demand has been higher than ever.” McAfee notes that making chips takes some time – “it’s basically 12 to 13 weeks from when you start a wafer to when you get a product out the other end of the machine” – and that the 3D V-Cache stacking process adds complexity and is even more time consuming Meaning it’s harder to catch up with unexpected spikes in demand McAfee says: “I think as we go through the first half of this year you’ll see us continue to increase the output of X3D.” And the exec further notes that in the future AMD is “ramping capacity to ensure we catch up with that demand for as long as customers want those X3D parts.” It’s the Ryzen 7 X3D processors which represent most of the demand you’ll be unsurprised to learn – as the benefits of hopping up to a Ryzen 9 X3D chip are marginal for PC gamers (if anything So the 9800X3D and its predecessor represent the sweet spot for gaming and value don’t expect the Ryzen 9800X3D to become more widely available for some time yet though as we head into the second quarter of 2025 matters should ease and the CPU may well populate the shelves in greater numbers and it’s pretty harsh to use a term like ‘horrible’ to describe a rival product particularly as gaming performance did not live up to Intel’s promises due to multiple issues Intel’s fixes – which have now been deployed for Arrow Lake all but one final measure – don’t help much at least according to Tom’s Hardware’s (limited) testing Something we’ll need to verify ourselves so take that with plenty of caution at this stage while that episode has nothing to do with Arrow Lake – which doesn’t suffer those instability woes – it still casts a deep shadow over Intel’s newest desktop range and the separate issues with these chips It’s a messy time for Intel in the CPU world and AMD pulling no punches isn’t really a surprise ‘horrible’ is going rather too far and somewhat gleefully playing on Intel’s other mishaps of late again particularly for gaming – though the 9800X3D has gone a long way towards addressing that The only problem is you can’t buy the thing at the moment a situation which isn’t about to change Frank Azor took the stage at X to address rumors of a potential 32GB RX 9070 XTX in the making The executive sarcastically revealed the impossibly powerful "RX 90700.05XTXT Max 320GB" as an alternative Actually it's a 320GB card we are calling the 90700.05XTXT MaxFebruary 16, 2025 Click 'See more' to check out Frank's reply Azor is joking about the XTXT Max—a 32GB RDNA 4 variant could still be in the cards (no pun intended) as he didn't explicitly deny the existence of such a card a 32GB card would probably not fall under the consumer branding but would more likely be a Pro or Instinct card for the workstation or data center market with the current-gen Radeon Pro W7900 packing a massive 48GB frame buffer Let's not be detached from reality; a 32GB model seems improbable based on what was said AMD could slap on 32GB of memory in clamshell mode but that would lead to higher costs and hinge on market demand though we suggest waiting for the official reveal in around ten days for more details Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell appears online with an eye-watering price tag of over $11,000 Star Trek fans in May The Fourth RTX 5090 competition Arrow Lake die shot shows off the details of Intel's chiplet-based design The RX 9070 XT Red Devil card requires a 900W power supply the same as the previous RX 7900 XTX Red Devil revealing an eye-opening 900W minimum power supply requirement If you're unfamiliar with PowerColor's product stack the Red Devil models are the top-end SKUs with the highest factory overclocks they consume more power than regular and moderately overclocked models note that the 900W requirement applies to the entire system so we're assuming PowerColor estimates around 600W for the entire system Perhaps 200W of that 600W is for hardware other than the GPU so the specific TBP for the RX 9070 XT Red Devil comes down to around 400W this isn't indicative of the reference RX 9070 XT There will be 9070 XT cards available at launch that will require lower minimum power supply wattages as will there be plenty with 8 pin power connectors for worry-free upgrading.February 14, 2025 AMD's Chief Architect for Gaming Solutions responded to Gawronski (click on the embedded tweet above) clarifying that there will be 9070 XT variants with lower minimum power supply wattage requirements the AMD executive didn't shoot down the authenticity of the 900W power supply requirement on the leaked RX 9070 XT Red Devi saying there will be plenty of RX 9070 XT GPUs with 8-pin PCIe power connectors for "worry-free upgrading." revealing a Navi 48 die with 4,096 shader cores 16GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit memory interface dashing people's hopes for potential 9070 XT workstation-focused partner cards covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs Film Review 80th Anniversary Announcement We use cookies to provide you with a great experience and to help our website run effectively None too close to the outside.\u201D - The Aviator (2004) Andreas Fontana’s debut feature is a remarkably mature and subtle drama set in 1980 during Argentina’s Dirty War Two factors help to explain why this debut feature by Andreas Fontana takes the form that it does it could on the face of it seem strange that as the director and leading writer he should choose to set his first feature in Argentina and to focus on life there in 1980 when the military junta was in power That Fontana should have been drawn to this subject is explained by the fact that his grandfather was a private banker and also somebody who travelled in that part of the world on holiday at just that time Fontana himself knew the country having lived there for a while What happens to Yvan de Wiel (Fabrizio Rongione) the filmmaker was influenced by thoughts of what could have occurred had his grandfather’s visit to Argentina been on business.Yvan arrives in Buenos Aires accompanied by his wife They are already established with many wealthy clients and Yvan’s aim is to provide them with assurance as he takes over that all is well and that he will handle everything confidentially Yvan quickly realises that he needs to tread carefully: without arousing hostility from members of the junta he must say the right things to earn fully the trust of the rich who are anxious to preserve their investments and to protect their belongings by sending them abroad (one landowner describes Argentina as a country that is a private hunting ground for those at the top).The other factor relevant to explaining the character of Azor lies in the fact that Fontana having only previously directed one short film is here turning to feature filmmaking at the comparatively advanced age of 39 Most debuts tend to be the work of younger directors intent on attracting attention be it by showing off or by proving their ability to make a film with commercial appeal what Fontana gives us is a notably subtle film built on a screenplay which in itself adds to the sense that this is a truly mature work.At the outset we see an incident that is viewed from the embassy car in which Yvan and Inés are being driven: it involves the police turning on two youths on the street and arresting them and by putting this upfront the power of the junta is underlined This makes it unnecessary to follow up with overt action scenes and rather than making use of consciously dramatic events Fontana captures the unease and the dread beneath the surface which was then central to life in Argentina even among those who were well-off The atmosphere conveyed encourages our own sense of curiosity and prompts us to ask questions What sort of man was Yvan’s absent partner a man described in such conflicting ways by those who knew him is Yvan likely to end up following in his footsteps That last possibility is all the stronger because Inés is ready to goad him on so as not to lose her posh lifestyle to which she is now both accustomed and addicted.It can hardly be by chance that at certain moments Azor echoes both The Third Man and Apocalypse Now one that deliberately plays down any sense of melodrama Both Rongione and Cléau give first-class performances perfectly coordinated in their underplaying while fully sustaining their grip on the audience Perhaps the story lacks the potential to be any kind of a masterpiece but even so, Azor is both masterful and individual that proves to be a code word the meaning of which proves apt for this atmospheric portrait of a society in which you have to be very careful of what you say.MANSEL STIMPSONCast: Fabrizio Rongione Screenplay Andreas Fontana with Mariano Llinás Alina Film/Local Films/Radio Télévision Suisse/Ruda Cine-Mubi.100 mins FilmReviewDaily@gmail.com © 2015 - 2025 FILM REVIEW. All rights reserved. Privacy Notice 📈 Future shipments of the RX 9070 will likely be sold at higher prices 💰 The initial $549 price point is limited to a small selection of cards 😢 The price hikes will be similar to those experienced by Nvidia's 50-Series ❌ AMD’s Frank Azor reached out with a statment denying the AMD RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT MSRP will increase intentionally Updated (03/06/2025: 5:30pm EDT): AMD responded to The Shortcut with the following quote from AMD Consumer and Gaming Marketing’s Frank Azor “It is inaccurate that $549/$599 MSRP is launch-only pricing We expect cards to be available from multiple vendors at $549/$599 (excluding region specific tariffs and/or taxes) based on the work we have done with our AIB partners the AIBs have different premium configurations at higher price points and those will also continue.” This basically explains that the $549/$599 MSRP of the RX 9070/RX 9070 XT won’t just be launch prices AMD says has worked with AIB partners (i.e etc) to achieve and maintain RX 9070’s $549 and RX 9070 XT’s $599 pricing the quote doesn’t exaxtly promise the cards will be available at their intended $549/$599 Instead AMD says it “expects” the prices won’t increase excluding factors like regional taxes and tarriffs That essentially shifts the blame of potentially increased pricing to the current state of world trade it does not seem that the latest Radeon GPU prices will be intentionally increased from their original MSRP as the Sweedish retailer One of the most appealing things about AMD's RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT cards is that they're actually available at the MSRP prices of $549 and $599 it turns out that Team Red's new GPUs could suffer the same price hikes as Nvidia's 50-Series The Shortcut has 145,000 subscribers and is the #1 consumer tech publication on Substack Subscribe now for the latest news and to receive our banner-ad-free newsletter ⤵️ Some retailers believe that the suggested MSRP price won't be honored by board partners for long, which means the price could increase (thanks, Videocardz) New stock will be listed at a higher price Swedish retail chain Inet.se explained how the situation works in more detail and mentioned that $549 cards like PowerColor's Reaper model will not be relisted at MSRP "We have now learned how the recommended prices work for the launch of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT We are not allowed to say exact prices ahead of the release they will apply to a limited number of cards "The prices only apply to the first shipment of each model For Sapphire and Asus it will be just as usual we have only received one shipment and you can buy it until it runs out "Our second shipment from PowerColor is already waiting This means that we will first sell the Reaper models at MSRP prices and the stock balance will tick down as usual until the first shipment is sold out the stock will be replenished with new cards and we will then release the Reaper cards for order again – although not at MSRP prices "If you receive an order at MSRP price even though the cards are sold out but unfortunately we have no way of continuing to sell cards at MSRP price after the first deliveries are sold out Andrew Gibson of Overclocker UK also confirmed that only a limited number of cards will launch at MSRP on the company's forum "We literally have around 2,000 units from Sapphire in stock 1,000 from PowerColor and 1,000 from Asrock so prices will hump once those are sold through." We've seen Nvidia's 50-series fetch far higher than their MSRP prices, when they're available. The RTX 5070 Ti is supposed to be a $750 card We were extremely impressed with AMD's RX 9070 in our review, which offered better performance than Nvidia's RTX 5070 for the same $549 price we'll have to see how much AMD's new cards end up going for Up next: Nvidia RTX 5070 Founders Edition cards won't be released until later this month Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts. (Credit: AMD)\uD83D\uDE2C AMD's RX 9070 MSRP price only applies to the first shipment \uD83D\uDCC8 Future shipments of the RX 9070 will likely be sold at higher prices \uD83D\uDCB0 The initial $549 price point is limited to a small selection of cards \uD83D\uDE22 The price hikes will be similar to those experienced by Nvidia's 50-Series \u274C AMD\u2019s Frank Azor reached out with a statment denying the AMD RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT MSRP will increase intentionally Updated (03/06/2025: 5:30pm EDT): AMD responded to The Shortcut with the following quote from AMD Consumer and Gaming Marketing\u2019s Frank Azor \u201CIt is inaccurate that $549/$599 MSRP is launch-only pricing the AIBs have different premium configurations at higher price points and those will also continue.\u201D This basically explains that the $549/$599 MSRP of the RX 9070/RX 9070 XT won\u2019t just be launch prices etc) to achieve and maintain RX 9070\u2019s $549 and RX 9070 XT\u2019s $599 pricing the quote doesn\u2019t exaxtly promise the cards will be available at their intended $549/$599 Instead AMD says it \u201Cexpects\u201D the prices won\u2019t increase One of the most appealing things about AMD's RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT cards is that they're actually available at the MSRP prices of $549 and $599 Subscribe now for the latest news and to receive our banner-ad-free newsletter \u2935\uFE0F Some retailers believe that the suggested MSRP price won't be honored by board partners for long, which means the price could increase (thanks, Videocardz) Swedish retail chain Inet.se explained how the situation works in more detail and mentioned that $549 cards like PowerColor's Reaper model will not be relisted at MSRP \\\"We have now learned how the recommended prices \\\"The prices only apply to the first shipment of each model \\\"Our second shipment from PowerColor is already waiting the stock will be replenished with new cards and we will then release the Reaper cards for order again \u2013 although not at MSRP prices \\\"If you receive an order at MSRP price even though the cards are sold out Andrew Gibson of Overclocker UK also confirmed that only a limited number of cards will launch at MSRP on the company's forum \\\"We literally have around 2,000 units from Sapphire in stock so prices will hump once those are sold through.\\\" We've seen Nvidia's 50-series fetch far higher than their MSRP prices, when they're available. The RTX 5070 Ti is supposed to be a $750 card We were extremely impressed with AMD's RX 9070 in our review, which offered better performance than Nvidia's RTX 5070 for the same $549 price Up next: Nvidia RTX 5070 Founders Edition cards won't be released until later this month Subscribe now Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut\u2019s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar\u2019s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts 751 members of the Holy Cross class of 2024 will walk the commencement stage HCM asked several seniors to share their journeys in their own words Listen and read their uncut narratives — how they got here and what they’re taking with them — as they reflect on the Holy Cross chapter of their life I recall the pivotal moment in sixth grade when my teacher spoke of her daughter attending Holy Cross with so much pride in her voice This moment solidified my belief that college was the gateway to success as my parents had always instilled in me guiding my decision to pursue education at Holy Cross before I even graduated High school Fast forward to my senior year of high school and the allure of Holy Cross remained strong I found my place through involvement in student government and leadership roles I continued to engage in various activities from serving as co-president to leading Bible study Gratitude fills me as I look back on the support and opportunities I've received Studying abroad in Rome was a transformative experience fostering lifelong friendships and broadening my perspective Campus organizations like the Office of Study Abroad and the Black Student Union provided vital support Participating in programs like Gateways Orientation and Residence Life has enriched my college experience the support for my faith and fitness business bolstering my confidence and entrepreneurial spirit Engaging in the spring break immersion program deepened my commitment to serving others My involvement in student government and leadership roles has honed valuable skills in communication and creativity Leading Bible study has been spiritually fulfilling fostering community and growth among peers I am grateful for the lessons learned and the friendships formed The challenges I faced have shaped me into a stronger I carry with me a profound sense of gratitude for the institution that has helped shape my worldview and perspective on life my journey at Holy Cross has been marked by growth As I embark on the next chapter of my life 1 College StreetWorcester, MA 01610508-793-2011hcmag@holycross.edu Andreas Fontana’s debut feature is an unnervingly subtle drama about a Swiss private banker visiting clients in Argentina during the period of the military junta and ‘disappearances’ sophisticated movie; an eerie oppression in the air Andreas Fontana is a Swiss director making his feature debut with this conspiracy drama-thriller about the occult world of super-wealth and things not to be talked about The title is a Swiss banker’s code-word in conversation for “Be silent” which intuited the almost supernatural fear among those left behind when people they knew had vanished and joined los desaparecidos But Azor gives a queasy new perspective on the horror of those times and there is even a nauseous echo of the Swiss banks’ attitude to their German neighbours in the second world war Yvan (Fabrizio Rongione) is a private banker from Geneva – elegant, discreet, an excellent speaker of Spanish, English and French – who is making what appears to be an emergency diplomatic visit to soothe his well-heeled and secretive clients in Argentina supportive wife Inés (Stéphanie Cléau); her presence there is also intended to be emollient and that this is almost by way of a social call Yvan’s clientele are deeply troubled by the new political regime and it is not simply because one has a grownup daughter with liberal views who has unaccountably gone missing The super-rich fear that they could find their assets being sequestrated by the government One of them talks of thoroughbred racehorses being “disappeared” And what is even worse is that these people were used to dealing with Yvan’s colleague Réné a genial and exuberant figure who has also now vanished Yvan is utterly at a loss as to how or why Réné could have disappeared … but he has done so in Buenos Aires Yvan searches through this now deserted flat finding only a list of familiar client names and one more word: “Lazaro” chilling sequence involving a Conradian trip downriver this word appears to refer to a new secret government contract or income-generating scheme a way of reviving money from the dead: the sort of thing a Swiss bank could help with Could it be that Réné was disappeared because he broke the azor code and told people about Lazaro Part of the chill in Azor is the professional calm cultivated by Yvan and Inés; Yvan affects never to be really upset or distressed about what has happened to Réné and what is happening all around him their car is held up at a roadblock caused by the military police arresting two young men at gunpoint Fontana’s camera shows these two at a distance across the street with their hands up and then Azor screens at the London film festival and is released in the UK on 29 October Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb AMD blames poor Intel Arrow Lake gaming performance for AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D stock issues in a CES 2025 executive interview this week Follow us for daily PC games news, guides and reviews on X, Facebook, Google News, and Steam. Or sign up to our free newsletter. a Swiss banker experiences junta-ruled Argentina.Illustration by Emiliano PonziSave this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyThere is a helpful moment in Andreas Fontana’s “Azor,” when we catch sight of a calendar It tells us that we are approaching the end of 1980 and we are therefore smack in the middle of what was officially designated the National Reorganization Process—one of the nastiest of modern euphemisms especially for those many thousands of citizens who were organized to their deaths In the opening minutes of the movie, we see two young men being questioned at gunpoint in the street, and steel ourselves for a tale of brutal repression. Will we be plunged into the guts of the Dirty War—the process by which Argentinian dissidents and other undesirables were murdered or made to vanish The loudest noise is music on a dance floor and the only corpse is that of a roasted suckling pig with an apple in its mouth But make no mistake: the smell of villainy wafts through this fine film like the smoke of a costly cigar The person doing most of the sniffing is Yvan de Wiel (Fabrizio Rongione) who has flown to Buenos Aires from Geneva with his wife whose job—whose very existence—relies on an ability to oblige his clients and to smooth over any rough patches in the upkeep of their wealth takes Yvan and Ines horse riding on his estate “this country has become a private hunting ground for some people at the top”; his own daughter if that requires Yvan to pass a bulging gym bag to a well-dressed colleague on the sly One reason for Yvan’s arrival is the peculiar disappearance of a colleague of his Whether we ever encounter Keys I shall not reveal; what matters in “The Third Man” (1949)—his absence becomes a kind of all-pervading presence he crawls into casual conversation; he is or was “depraved,” “very charming,” “uglier than a toad,” “a despicable manipulator.” The more murmured the rumor Word has it that Keys was once seen with les fauves and what’s impressive is how coolly he avoids the temptation to put on a big show Only twice did I notice it starting to quiver—once as Yvan makes his way through jungly woods politely bearing his leather briefcase into the heart of darkness and with good cause: the art of soft-soaping will get you nowhere in the Dirty War and takes care never to raise her voice; why shout when your witticisms are dangerously honed “My husband and I are one and the same person: him,” Ines says yet she knows herself to be smarter and stronger than Yvan Ouch.) Best and scariest of all is Tatoski (Pablo Torre Nilsson) the church elder to whom Yvan is introduced at a gentleman’s club amid “the cream of the junta.” Fontana could have made the Reverend Monsignor neat and mischievous He looms over Yvan and proposes investing in the currency market State-sponsored assassination is one thing Careful what you say.” Similar hints include faire Condois—to pretend you haven’t seen anything—and These are no more than ploys in a social game yet they also answer to the film’s most sobering concern: the inexhaustible human talent for averting one’s gaze It is a talent by no means confined to rich old families; you find it in Lucrecia Martel’s “The Headless Woman” (2008) taking place decades after the end of the military regime about a woman who can’t quite bring herself to acknowledge an accidental crime that she may or may not have committed We are left wondering: Can a strange bad habit of moral evasion linger on even though the traumatic national events that gave rise to it are fading into the past and in those overwhelming questions which hide in the cracks of small talk When Yvan is asked what Keys’s apartment is like he calls it un labyrinthe—a reply worthy of Jorge Luis Borges one of the dignitaries at the club remarks that Borges despite being Argentina’s most celebrated author now resides (like Yvan and Ines) in Geneva “because it hasn’t changed.” In order to prosper you need to keep pace with the shifting political order though be warned: you may have to sell your soul along the way It’s quite a jump from the suave multinational courtesies of “Azor” to the juddering chatter of Natalie Morales’s “Language Lessons.” Morales wrote the movie with Mark Duplass and the two of them also star in it; most of the time who is married to Will (Desean Terry) and living the dream in Oakland Will buys him Spanish lessons—to be precise Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker While there’s never a moment of overt violence in Azor a river of blood courses beneath every impeccably composed frame Andreas Fontana’s Azor begins with a flurry of names “Farrell,” “Keys,” “Bijou,” “Tatoski,” “Dante,” and “Lacrosteguy” are all dropped within the first few scenes before we’ve met any of the people to whom these names belong This flood of proper nouns is pregnant with mystery and wholly appropriate to the film’s milieu: the rarified world of early-’80s Argentina’s elite among whom certain family names carry a weight equivalent to titles like president or general Into this world steps a Swiss financier (Fabrizio Rongione) whose own status-denoting patronymic is representative of a venerable private bank that bears his family’s name with his wife Inés (Stéphanie Cléau) in tow has been dispatched to Argentina to check in on the firm’s rich and powerful clients after Keys the company’s previous man in Buenos Aires and a well-connected bishop (Pablo Torre Nilson) Yvan cautiously investigates the disappearance of his partner gradually discovering that Keys’s exuberant methods and political dabbling have ruffled some feathers within Argentine high society is ultimately less interested in finding Keys than he is in preserving the bank’s business which faces some stiff competition from vulgar public banks like Credit Suisse Yvan insinuates himself into Buenos Aires’s aristocracy with ease though not without effort afraid that he’s an inferior businessman to Keys and that even more unwilling to lose the couple’s upper-crust status than her husband goading Yvan into action with little digs at his ego that she knows will only serve to harden his resolve as this bourgeois clique plays its power-and-money games average Argentinians are suffering the pangs and paroxysms of the Dirty War in which leftists and political dissidents are being targeted by the country’s military junta Yvan and Inés witness the effects of the repression firsthand as a seemingly arbitrary arrest of a student by military police blocks traffic on the way to their hotel The Dirty War has even started to turn its sights on the ruling class disappearing the politically engaged daughter of one of Yvan’s clients As Nilson’s bishop ominously puts it to Yvan Argentina is in the midst of “a purification phase” during which “parasites must be eradicated.” For the most part the military government isn’t an antagonist to Yvan but a potential partner one whose murderousness may in fact open up an attractive new revenue stream his clients’ well-cultivated air of refinement masks a savage indifference to the brutality being waged against the people of Argentina and Fontana brilliantly mirrors this “banality of evil” theme in the film’s very form With its elegantly restrained cinematography Azor embodies the same well-mannered urbanity as Yvan himself Set almost exclusively in comfortably furnished hotels the film takes place in a world far removed from the sociopolitical tension gripping the country while there’s never a moment of overt violence in Azor Azor was inspired by a diary that his Swiss-banker grandfather used to catalogue a 1980 trip to Argentina to visit clients and in language that the filmmaker found surprisingly “mundane and banal.” The film manages to evoke that chilling mundanity without becoming dull through the careful construction of its central mystery: What exactly was Keys up to Yvan’s search for Keys nods toward Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness explicitly so in a final chapter in which Yvan travels upriver by boat to a destination that will alter the course of his life but the allusion turns out to be deliberately misleading Whereas Marlow comes face to face with the malignant soul of colonialism the dark heart of Azor lies in Yvan himself Whatever may have happened to Keys is ultimately irrelevant as he’s simply a casualty of the same neoliberal death machine whose wheels Yvan is all too happy to grease Fontana’s film ends not with Yvan achieving some transformative revelation about the nature of capitalism but with the man experiencing a catharsis of relief and self-satisfaction In finding a way to profit off of the savage brutality of the junta Keith Watson is the proprietor of the Arkadin Cinema and Bar in St document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id" "a1589e8554f915d88dd6f6caf21936c3" );document.getElementById("facec42938").setAttribute( "id" and website in this browser for the next time I comment The scene depicted on this ancient scarab seal ‘represents the bestowing of legitimacy on a local ruler,’ according to archaeologists from the Israel Antiquity Authority (IAA) The 3,000-year-old scarab seal found in Azor The 3,000-year-old scarab was discovered by Gilad Stern of the IAA Educational Center during a school field tour in Azor “We were wandering around when I saw something that looked like a small toy on the ground,” Stern said “An inner voice said to me: ‘Pick it up and turn it over.’ I was astonished: it was a scarab with an incised scene The scarab was designed in the shape of the common dung beetle The ancient Egyptians saw the act of the little beetle which rolls a ball of dung twice its size where it stows its future offspring as the embodiment of creation and regeneration — similar to the act of the Creator God “The scarab was used as a seal and symbol of power and status It may have been placed on a necklace or a ring,” said IAA researcher Dr a silicate material coated with a bluish-green glaze.” “It may have dropped from the hands of an important figure of authority who passed through the area or it may have been deliberately buried in the ground and other objects came to the surface after thousands of years.” “It’s difficult to determine the exact original context.” and in front of it is a standing figure whose arm is raised above that of the seated person.” “The standing figure has an elongated head representing the crown of an Egyptian pharaoh.” “It is possible that we can see here a snapshot of a scene wherein the Egyptian pharaoh is conferring authority to a local Canaanite subject.” “This scene basically reflects the geopolitical reality that prevailed in the land of Canaan during the Late Bronze Age (1500-1000 BCE) when the local Canaanite rulers lived — and sometimes rebelled — under Egyptian political and cultural hegemony,” Dr it is possible that the seal was indeed from the Late Bronze Age when the Egyptian Empire ruled the local Canaanites.” The International Peace and Responsibility Centre (IPCRC) has officially declared the recent local government elections in Anambra conducted by the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) This assessment was made during a post-election press conference held in Awka on Sunday proceeded in a peaceful and orderly manner maintained a high degree of integrity,” he stated while addressing an audience of journalists and fellow observers The IPCRC deployed over 100 accredited observers across all 21 local government areas including an increased number of citizen observers to ensure comprehensive coverage “It was essential for us to monitor the elections closely and we gathered substantial feedback from the field.” With approximately 2.5 million registered voters in the state the turnout was notably lower than expected Azor reported no instances of vote-buying or electoral malpractice although he noted some individuals lingering near polling units The report commended ANSIEC for prioritizing inclusivity particularly by accommodating physically challenged individuals and nursing mothers allowing them to cast their votes comfortably Observers also noted the presence of party agents from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Azor affirmed that the elections proceeded without incident acknowledging ANSIEC’s efforts in ensuring a smooth election process albeit with some initial logistical challenges that resulted in delayed voting in certain locations the overall execution of the elections was commendable,” he stated the IPCRC emphasized the need for improvements in future elections particularly concerning voter education and outreach initiatives to enhance participation Observers pointed out inadequacies in the number of voting cubicles suggesting that the electoral body should consider breaking down polling units to avoid overcrowding and streamline the voting process Azor concluded with a call for governance reforms and capacity-building initiatives within local government administration to foster accountability and transparency As the Anambra State government reflects on this election the IPCRC advocates for strategic measures to enhance the integrity of future electoral processes and foster a more engaged electorate Police on Monday evening arrested four people in connection with the killing of criminal Benny Shlomo and injuring another person at a gas station near the town of Azor Three of the suspects were arrested as they were sitting in a car in Gedera and another suspect was apprehended at Ben Gurion Airport All four are residents of central Israel in their 20s was murdered by gunfire on Monday afternoon at a gas station in Azor Another person who was with him was seriously injured Dramatic footage from the scene showed the shooters arriving at the gas station Starting with the receipt of the report about the murder in the afternoon police forces in large numbers began investigating and collecting evidence and findings in order to identify the suspects the police were able to trace the identities of four suspects who are directly involved in the case which began in the evening and concluded with their arrests The suspects have been brought to the Lachish District Attorney's office where they will be questioned on suspicion of murder Benny Shlomo's crime organization had been locked in a bloody rivalry with another well-known crime family for years Shlomo survived several attempts on his life over the years A festival fave since its premiere at Berlin in 2021 But an engrossing tale that casts a strange spell A genuinely mysterious journey into the heart of darkness This exceptional debut feature from Andreas Fontana takes in a search for a missing banker in ’70s Argentina If complex fiscal mechanisms in the private banking sector is something that gets you hot then you’re absolutely not going to want to miss this debut feature by Argentinian filmmaker Andreas Fontana We join Fabrizio Rongione’s Yvan De Wiel and his wife Inés (Stéphanie Cléau) as they hop from Geneva – where he works as a private banker – to Buenos Aires and then saunter politely among the social elites clinking glasses as they search for his missing partner The film takes place during the country’s military junta of the mid-’70s and through to the ’80s the political context is of no interest to him whatsoever The only time in the film he appears ruffled is at a race track where he has to queue to show his passport to security forces Fontana doesn’t lean too heavily on how this scion of capitalism is entirely unworried by the killings and oppression that occurs in the background which in turn makes it extremely difficult to lay a firm value judgement on our hero as he burrows down the rabbit hole in search of Keys Azor could be coined a thriller in the loosest sense of the term and its story ensnares you very slowly but very surely The episodic plot doesn’t so much drip-feed morsels of information more than it takes a complex situation and constantly moves the boundaries of where Yvan should be looking and what Keys motivations may have been the more it becomes clear that Keys was a social chameleon loathed by others and operating in an illogical manner that seems anathema to the cool-headed work of the private banker The film avoids heated confrontation almost entirely yet menace seeps from the screen through suggestion and micro-inflection A lengthy and very genial conversation with an ageing monsignor about the danger and unpredictability of playing the currency markets is laced with an air of malevolence purely because Yvan’s sparring partner looks like a mafia capo who could kill him at any moment has happy to be ushered off into another room which is a shame as there are unfulfilled intimations that she has some kind of control over the cautious Yvan In its cloistered world of privileged men talking in room hatching plans to parlay their fortunes into power it recalls a stripped-back John le Carré-like spy yarn particularly the general sense of world-weariness and apathy among the players It’s perhaps one or two increments too obscure too puzzling and too unwilling to give anything away that it seems to end mid-sentence Yet it’s still a bold work that puts great faith in its cast to play along with this game of chilling insouciance It’s one of few films which genuinely deserves to be described as “Lynchian” LWLies 107: The Sinners issue – Out now! Ryan Coogler: ‘I’m more confident in my film language than I am in my English’ I’m Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today: The Video Shop at the End of the World The 2025 Cannes Film Festival line-up is here! The empty showboat of cinematic one-shots Inside the academic conference taking Terrifier back to school By Biju Belinky Directors Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles skewer modern Brazilian history in this subversive survival thriller By David Jenkins Lucrecia Martel’s tale of colonial misadventure in South America is one of the great cinematic achievements of the decade Viggo Mortensen teams up with Argentinian visionary Lisandro Alonso to deliver one of the most singularly compelling films of the year Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience Reviews Set in Argentina in 1980, “Azor” is a quiet You come away from it feeling that you’ve been given a greater understanding of how authoritarian power-grabs happen “What would I do if I were in that world Would I be the revolutionary hero of my fantasies and charming. What’s undeniable is that Keys left important business unfinished when he vanished and it’s Yvan’s job to wrap it up From the opening scenes of “Azor” we feel a gnawing dread Yvan and Ines are brought from the airport to their hotel in the city by a driver who gets stopped by police checking IDs and asking questions Two young men are being held at gunpoint on the street We never hear the voices of these men or the officers detaining them but we’re anxious that they’ll be put against a wall and shot an otherwise mundane conversation between Yvan and the desk manager takes an ominous turn after Yvan describes what they saw coming over Although it’s probably against the manager’s code to express political opinions on the job he makes an exception because he’s offended by the implication that something is rotten in Argentina “You don’t understand,” he says The ellipses and frustrations encountered by the couple are the film’s way of helping us feel not just intellectually process, what happens when a military junta seizes a country You can’t find out why they didn’t happen or where the absent person is. There are in-person and phone conversations about buying and selling things but we aren’t clear on how the items were obtained and whether they really belong to the sellers We hear secondhand reports of an important man who was visited by police who “took everything” from his house There’s a driver in one client’s employ that we are told is not good at driving but is kept around because he’s willing to do “other favours” for the boss.  A lawyer named Dekerman (Juan Pablo Gereto) represents a major client who is threatening to withdraw his assets from the Swiss bank Then he gets Yvan by himself at the track and tells him that his boss was attached to Keys “like an addict sucking his dealer’s cock.” The language is shocking because nobody else has talked that way so far The rest of the scene proceeds without comment on that line but we see how it destabilizes Yvan.  but never better than when he’s showing us how Yvan’s “professionalism” amounts to a suppression of a moral read on events His wife begins to seem like a more advanced (or enflamed) version of whatever Yvan is. Cléau matches Rongione by out-underplaying him so controlled is Rongione’s affable, “I’m just an average guy trying to do a good job” take on the character Inés looks beautiful in her array of designer dresses and swimsuits and seems to live to swim in fancy pools and sip cocktails in luxury hotel lobbies and smoke cigarettes and make chit-chat immersing herself in the privileges that Yvan’s business has given her and guiding him back toward the established processes whenever he shows a glimmer of regret for anything bad he might be enabling.  There’s a touch of Graham Greene (“The Quiet American“) to the film’s portrayal of corruption manifested in a nation’s upper classes The well-off people that Yvan mingles with all wonder how they can escape the fates of the disappeared and a reluctance to stand for any principle that might bring harm Some seem appalled at themselves for being such small and talk of how important it is to accept change A priest who entrusts his investments to Yvan’s bank calls what’s happening to Argentina “a purification phase,” as if something in the water needs to be filtered out that has been missing an adult daughter for several years—a political agitator who dared to protest the junta The movie expresses the family’s’ grief and terror by stepping around it the movie gets at a dark truth about what happens to the citizens of a country where one side has been disempowering obstructing, and denuding the other over a period of many years and the other side can’t be bothered to mount an effective resistance because they’re mainly concerned with protecting whatever they’ve still got and hoping that whatever bad things happened to the ruler’s targets don’t happen to them “Azor” was inspired by a letter the director found among the possessions of his father a Swiss private banker just like the movie’s protagonist It documented a trip to Argentina during the period in which the film is set There was no indication of the horrors befalling the country at that moment It was just a letter home about a business trip money was made. This is how dictatorships assert control over a population: an inch at a time with the tacit approval of the conscienceless and the professionals who earn commissions from them Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor-at-Large of RogerEbert.com TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.