obnoticus

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16364128

Hospitals adding charge to bills from doctors’ offices, outpatient surgical clinics and diagnostic centers they own

Hospitals are gobbling up doctor’s offices – and they’re bringing higher prices to patients when they do, even if a patient never sets foot on a hospital campus.

Enter the “hospital facility fee”: a charge hospitals can add to bills from doctors’ offices, outpatient surgical clinics and diagnostics centers that they own, rebranding them as “outpatient hospital departments”, even if the facility is miles from a hospital campus.

“It’s one of the most egregious examples of hospital financing at the expense of consumers,” said Liz Hagan, director of policy solutions at the United States of Care, a non-profit advocacy group that released a new report on the practice.

The report, “Behind the Bill” argues that “hospitals are at the center of a massive market failure”, where consolidation is driving price hikes for patients.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin based on the fan-fave graphic novel is in the works with Tyler Burton Smith writing and Walter Hamada producing through his 18hz production company, as part of his multi-year deal with the studio. The movie will be the first R-rated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

cross-posted from: https://adultswim.fan/post/569657

Diving deep into what Marvel fans can expect from X-Men 97, the cast of the animated Disney Plus series sit down with Akeem Lawanson and IGN. Cal Dodd (original voice of “Wolverine”), Lenore Zann (original voice of “Rogue”), Holly Chou (the new voice of “Jubilee”), A.J. LoCascio (the new voice of “Gambit”), and Ray Chase (the new voice of “Cyclops”) discuss what it feels like to see the return of the series, the challenges they faced, and the attraction of the original X-Men animated series.

Westworld creator Jonathan Nolan’s new show keeps Fallout’s gallows humor. He also packed the first season because “you have to be careful not to leave too much down the road.”

Trailer: https://youtu.be/0kQ8i2FpRDk

Another review: https://www.theverge.com/24126474/fallout-review-amazon-prime-video

Amazon’s Fallout show gets the postapocalyptic vibes exactly right

It’s Fallout’s jokes, rather than its plot, that make it one of the most faithful — and best — video game adaptations.

He's not alone anymore. Joker: Folie à Deux – only in theaters and IMAX, October 4.

Westworld co-creator Jonathan Nolan has vowed to "finish the story" he had planned before HBO abruptly cancelled the series.

Nolan, who created the show with his spouse, Lisa Joy, told The Hollywood Reporter he is "100 percent" committed to giving Westworld a proper ending to allow fans to find closure after the fourth season finale, "Que Será, Será," ended up being the last anyone saw of the series, as HBO pulled the plug shortly after.

"We're completionists," Nolan said after being asked about the prospect of Westworld continuing. "It took me eight years and a change of director to get Interstellar made. We'd like to finish the story we started. I'm so f**king proud of what we made. It was an extraordinary experience. I think it would be a mistake to look back and only feel regret [over how it ended]. But there's still very much a desire to finish it."

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SIST9t72kY

Disney just pulled a fast one. Star Wars movies and shows are typically announced years before being released, but the company just revealed a new TV program that premieres next month. Tales of the Empire is an animated show produced by Dave Filoni, the man who cut his teeth on cartoons like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels before moving onto live action stuff like Ahsoka.

As the name suggests, this is something of a companion piece to 2022’s Tales of the Jedi. It’s an anthology series that spotlights different characters within the empire as they, uh, heroically try to defeat the nefarious rebels and bring order to the galaxy. You can expect appearances by many of your dark side faves, including Grand Admiral Thrawn, General Grievous and the Grand Inquisitor.

Just like how Tales of the Jedi put the spotlight on two characters, Ahsoka and Count Dooku, this new series will have its own duo to follow. There’s Morgan Elsbeth, a primary antagonist in Ahsoka and one episode of The Mandalorian, with the trailer indicating that Tales of the Empire will reveal how Thrawn and Elsbeth became besties. The show will also focus on Barriss Offee, a former Jedi Knight who fell to the dark side during the Clone Wars.

Despite being animated, the characters will be played by their live action actors. Lars Mikkelsen returns as Thrawn and Matthew Wood is once again portraying Grievous, the evil cyborg who is in dire need of some cough syrup. Diana Lee Inosanto is back as Elsbeth and Meredith Salenger is voicing Offee.

The show premieres on everyone’s favorite corporate-sponsored pseudo-holiday, May the Fourth, also known as May 4. All six episodes will be available to stream on Disney+ upon the release date. The live action Star Wars: Acolyte follows this with a premiere on June 4.

Drew Goddard, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of The Martian who also directed The Cabin in the Woods, has been set to write and direct a new Matrix movie at Warner Bros. The franchise’s original co-scribe and co-director Lana Wachowski is executive producing.

It’s still early days in regards to whether core cast members Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving and Jada Pinkett Smith are coming back.

“Drew came to Warner Bros with a new idea that we all believe would be an incredible way to continue the Matrix world, by both honoring what Lana and Lilly began over 25 years ago and offering a unique perspective based on his own love of the series and characters,” said Jesse Ehrman, Warner Bros Motion Pictures President of Production. “The entire team at Warner Bros Discovery is thrilled for Drew to be making this new Matrix film, adding his vision to the cinematic canon the Wachowskis spent a quarter of a century building here at the studio.”

Goddard received an Academy Award nomination for his adapted screenplay for The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. Goddard wrote such movies as Cloverfield and World War Z, and wrote and directed The Cabin in the Woods and Bad Times at the El Royale. Goddard began his career writing on the ’90s hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His TV credits include Angel, Alias, Lost, Daredevil and The Good Place.