A cat showed joy for the first time when he experienced kindness after years of a hard-knock life. ChatonsOrphelinsMontrealHaving spent most of his life roaming the streets, Blackjack, the cat, came to a balcony, hoping to find warmth and comfort.He thought he'd hit the jackpot when a young woman took him home, but he ended up in a hoarding situation. With his ailments untreated, he began to deteriorate. One day, several volunteer rescuers banded together to rescue ten cats from the crowded home, and Blackjack was one of them.When they found Blackjack, he couldn't open his eyes. But from that moment on, his life was about to change for the better. ChatonsOrphelinsMontreal"He was brought to us in Montreal in poor condition, covered in filth with his nose and eyes blocked due to an infection," Chatons Orphelins Montreal shared. "Despite everything, he wolfed down his food because he was so hungry."He was treated for an upper respiratory infection and spent most of his time resting and healing. ChatonsOrphelinsMontrealFor a while, Blackjack was quite withdrawn, rarely leaving his spot and sleeping his days away. "As he regained strength, his foster family noticed he had a limp when he walked."They headed back to the vet, where they discovered Blackjack needed far more care than anyone had anticipated. ChatonsOrphelinsMontreal"Though he'd recovered from his cold, his eyes remained painful and closed due to entropion, which caused his eyelids to roll inward. Additionally, he had multiple infected teeth that needed to be extracted."With the community's support, Blackjack underwent an eyelid surgery and a full dental. Even with a few teeth left, he felt brand new. ChatonsOrphelinsMontreal"We were finally able to see him with his eyes open when his stitches were removed."After many challenging years, Blackjack struggled to trust people, but his foster family never stopped trying to win him over. "Given his long recovery, we were eager for him to start socialization and learn to live without stress." ChatonsOrphelinsMontreal"We showed him that he was no longer alone and that the worst was behind him."His foster dad spent ample time with him in the room, trying to coax him with his favorite treats. Slowly but surely, Blackjack emerged from his "cave" and showed interest in his surroundings. ChatonsOrphelinsMontreal"With positive reinforcement, he started making soft meows whenever his people approached him with food and gently placed his paw on their hand."His slight limp, a remnant of an old injury that healed crookedly, doesn't hinder him from living a good life. Though unable to jump like other cats, he navigates his world with remarkable resilience. To everyone's surprise, he is also deaf, but it doesn't faze him in the slightest. ChatonsOrphelinsMontrealAs Blackjack grew confident with his humans, he gradually ventured into the rest of the house. When he noticed other cats, his face lit up, and his affectionate nature came out. "He meows and wants to be friends with the cats in the house."He follows them on their adventures, exploring every nook and cranny and watching Cat TV on the screen. ChatonsOrphelinsMontrealAt seven years old, Blackjack has been through it all. He is deaf, FIV+, and walks with a slight limp, but he is a beautiful soul, eager for affection and good company."He has come out of his shell since his arrival and continues to make progress each day." ChatonsOrphelinsMontrealThe once-timid, scruffy cat has blossomed into a stunning house panther with a fluffy coat. He revels in his new life with feline friends and sleeps soundly every night, knowing he's safe and loved. ChatonsOrphelinsMontrealShare this story with your friends. More on Blackjack and Chatons Orphelins Montreal on Instagram and Facebook.Related story: 21 Year Old Cat Lost Only Place She Knew Then Came Wonderful People Who Promised Her the Best Rest of Life

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Wednesday's Final Word

Billionaire entrepreneur Palmer Luckey seems to have hit the nail on the head at the exact right time with the new Chromatic, a Game Boy reboot of sorts offering better screen resolution and updated features.With the tagline, "The future is retro," Luckey seems to, in some way or another, have his ear to the ground when it comes to the rapidly growing nostalgia trend sweeping North America.Not even 10 years ago, most Millennials and Gen-Xers would have looked at an old Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, or Game Boy and paused for a moment, remembered a vague gaming memory, and moved on. Now, that box full of junk has huge retail value.With mobile gaming capturing a gigantic market share, and platforms such as Netflix and YouTube pumping out their own low-cost games, the population is figuring out that some of their favorite old titles still stand up. With these games and consoles completely phased out of production, a new high demand for old tech has completely rocked the video game industry.For example, a gold Nintendo 64 in a beat-up box can run a cool $1,000. Meanwhile, if your parents dished out around $100 for the special release of EarthBound for Super Nintendo in 1995, that investment has now grown 20 to 30 times, at around $2,000-$3,000, depending on where you look.To fill the gap, consoles with the capability of playing everything from 1987-2005 and beyond have flown off the shelves.Enter Chromatic, the latest gap-filler for Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. Produced by Palmer Luckey's ModRetro company, the tech guru said he wanted to "build the ultimate way to play Game Boy games.""Not just the next one or one of many, but indisputably, the very best way, the most authentic, the highest quality, one that will last for generations as a piece of heirloom-grade tribute art," Luckey said in a launch video.He's not wrong.While most — not all — new-retro consoles feel somewhat soulless, before even opening the box gamers are greeted with colorful graphics right out of 1994 — the cheesy era, not the extreme era.The box emulates a grade-school notebook that was drawn on by countless friends, each leaving a memory behind. The package communicates to the owner to keep it and not let it get damaged.The Chromatic itself looks like a Game Boy but feels updated. Photo courtesy ModRetroPurposely made to feel like an old Game Boy — only in the good ways — the Chromatic includes those old-school button *clicks*, the use of a directional pad, and the same orientation of an old Game Boy Color. The volume is operated by a dial (wheel), which feels great for some reason. Additional features include a Game Boy Color connector port and the IR port to communicate with other systems, as well.The lesser features of a gaming system from 1989 were solved, too. The screen is an obvious upgrade from a Game Boy and Game Boy Color but manages to look identical, which Luckey said was a completely "irrational" move from a money standpoint.The screen has the same pixel structure, identical layout, identical resolution, and size to the Game Boy Color display while promising to reproduce "the strange colors" that its predecessors did before it. By most accounts, including this one, it does the job it set out to do.The body of the product is magnesium aluminum alloy, giving it a very industrial feel that brags about being indestructible. There is an additional headphone jack, USB-C port, and a single button on the right-hand side to bring up the settings menu.Power options include a rechargeable battery pack, or users can simply use three AA batteries. Without either, users can plug-and-play but obviously must stay connected.'I love the Game Boy, and I don't see this as a way to make money.' A Chromatic side by side with an original Game Boy Color.The Chromatic launched with nearly a dozen games, all of which are unique aside from a new Tetris cartridge that comes with the system. A new game is set to release each month.At $199, this handheld will cost about as much as a secondhand, out-of-box Game Boy Color will cost today. Of course, it will also play all the games from Game Boy and Game Boy Color, plus its own catalogue. Having said that, this is a collectible, and it was smartly made that way on purpose. With so much more heart than other reproduced firmware, the Chromatic delivers on what it promises. Gamers will feel what they're meant to feel with their old games, but their eyes won't be burnt out and a night-light won't be required to see the screen.With this product, Luckey should be ranked as less of a Mr. Burns and more of an Arthur Fortune.The 32-year-old basically threw his money at creating a system for sheer enjoyment, and so long as he doesn't try to block out the sun, maybe he can be trusted to recreate an N64 or PlayStation."I love the Game Boy, and I don't see this as a way to make money. I see this as a way to make the world's best tribute to the Game Boy, something that I'll be proud of for a very long time."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Merry Christmas and welcome back to the Align Movie Guide, your easy-to-follow guide to the films worth your hard-earned money. Thanksgiving offered hungry moviegoers a veritable big-screen buffet with "Wicked," "Moana 2," and "Gladiator II" on the menu. Families eager to get out of the house responded to the tune of $400 million in ticket sales — Hollywood's highest-grossing Turkey Day weekend ever. Will the studios close out the year with some crowd-pleasing Christmas cheer? Let's take a look. 'Mufasa: The Lion King' | Dec. 20 | Disney "Hakuna matata" is not a phrase you'll hear much at Disney these days. After a series of woke misfires, the studio has struggled to regain the public's trust; this prequel to the 2019 "live action" remake probably won’t do anything to shift the needle. "Mufasa: The Lion King" tells the origin story of Mufasa and his wayward brother, Scar. The film also features the return of Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Simba, Nala, and Simba’s daughter Kiara (not seen since "The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride"). The first trailer for the film was ratioed to oblivion, with fans criticizing bland visual effects carried over from the 2019 film. Others were unimpressed that the film ignores established lore of Mufasa’s rise to power, retconning him as an orphan this time around. On the plus side, the actual Lin-Manuel Miranda is writing new songs for the film, which should satisfy those irked by the “imitation Lin-Manuel knockoffs” of "Moana 2." Will it be enough to outgross a blue hedgehog with a movie coming out the same day? 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' | Dec. 20 | Paramount The "Sonic the Hedgehog" franchise is the gift that keeps on giving for Paramount, despite an initial horrifying character design that screamed "game over." Sometimes it pays to listen to your audience. The latest installment introduces fan-favorite nemesis Shadow (Keanu Reeves), whose power is so great that Sonic (Ben Schwartz) and his friends Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey) must form an unlikely alliance with Sonic’s archenemy, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) as well as his grandfather (also played by Carrey). Two Jim Carreys in one movie? That’s an easy yes for me. Disney may be king of the multiplex jungle, but this blurry blue upstart may have what it takes to steal the crown. Which one will you be seeing on December 20? 'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' | Dec. 13 | Warner Bros. Warner Bros. returns to Middle-earth with this animated epic, the first of many new "Lord of the Rings" films coming from the studio. "The War of the Rohirrim" goes back 200 years before Frodo took the ring to Mordor and follows Hèra (Gaia Wise) and her father, king of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox) as they make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg, against an enemy led by Dunlending lord Wulf (Luca Pasqualino). Directed by anime veteran Kenji Kamiyama ("Blade Runner: Black Lotus"), the film also brings back two characters from the "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" trilogies: Éowyn (Miranda Otto) and Saruman the White (the late Christopher Lee, using archived audio from the previous films). Let's hope that recent grumbling about the "girlbossing" of Hèra is exaggerated and that this new installment helps us all forget Amazon's execrable "The Rings of Power." 'A Complete Unknown' | Dec. 25 | Searchlight Pictures After the disappointment of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," James Mangold excavates America's rock and roll past with Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown." Timothee Chalamet portrays the Minnesota-born Robert Zimmerman, who conquers the New York folk scene only to throw it all away by bringing an electric guitar to Newport. Based on the book "Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties," "A Complete Unknown" features a stellar cast, including Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie, Dan Fogler as Albert Grossman, and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash. With a soundtrack featuring some of the most beloved songs of the 1960s, early buzz for Elle Fanning's performance, and talk of a Best Picture Academy Award, the stars seem aligned for "A Complete Unknown" to be the complete package when it comes to holiday season entertainment. 'Nosferatu' | Dec. 25 | Focus Features A good remake requires a delicate balance. The director must respect the source material while also risking doing something new with it. Early signs indicate that Robert Eggers hit the sweet spot with his upcoming version of F.W. Murnau's silent classic. In 1838 Germany, Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) is stalked by an ancient Transylvanian vampire, Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). As her interest turns into obsession, she opens the door to untold horrors for herself and her loved ones. Eggers' "Nosferatu" has already been praised as a true Gothic horror film, the likes of which have not been seen in quite some time. Anyone familiar with the director's previous work should expect something cinematically gorgeous and rich in story. Horror may not be everyone’s cup of tea during the holidays, but anyone brave enough to succumb to "Nosferatu" may find themselves richly rewarded. 'Kraven the Hunter' | Dec. 12 | Sony After mixed results with "Venom," "Madame Web," and "Morbius," Sony is about to release its third Spider-Man film (without Spider-Man): "Kraven the Hunter." Based on the popular villain from the Spider-Man comics, Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) blazes a bloody trail of vengeance as he goes against his mob-boss father (Russell Crowe) and the Rhino (Alessandro Nivola). Word on the street is this one could be more "Venom: The Last Dance" (closing in on $500 million in box office since its October 25 debut) than "Madame Web" (closing in on "was that a real movie or did I dream it?" status). While the R rating bodes well for a faithful depiction of the notoriously violent Kraven, the desperate marketing campaign (the first eight minutes of the film were released online) is suspicious. As is Taylor-Johnson publicly begging audiences to give the film a chance. The big holiday hit Sony's stalking may turn out to be just another lump of coal. 'Homestead' | Dec. 20 | Angel Studios Want to avoid supporting Hollywood all together? Angel Studios has you covered with family-friendly apocalyptic thriller "Homestead." When a bomb goes off in Los Angeles, a former Green Beret and other survivors take refuge from the ensuing societal collapse at an eccentric prepper’s mountain fortress. The group must overcome threats of violence and scarce resources to protect their own. Neal McDonough, fresh off his last Angel Studios film, "The Shift," leads a cast that includes Dawn Olivieri, Bailey Chase, and Olivia Sanabia. "Homestead" — which will spin off into a series for the Angel Studios streaming service — continues the studio's tradition of wholesome, well-made entertainment for those fed up with mainstream excesses. It may not be the holly-est, jolliest film to be hitting theaters, but the exceptional talent involved should make it an offbeat Yuletide treat. Here are some lesser-known titles you may want to keep an eye on this Christmas.'That Christmas' | Dec. 4 | Netflix Based on the book by Richard Curtis: A blizzard hits a seaside town, setting off intertwined tales of family, friends, love, and loneliness — and Santa making a big mistake. Starring Bill Nighy, Guz Khan, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker, and Brian Cox as Santa. Directed by Simon Otto. 'Werewolves' | Dec. 6 | Briarcliff Entertainment Two scientists try to stop a mutation that turns people into werewolves after being touched by a supermoon the year before. Starring Frank Grillo, Katrina Law, Lou Diamond Phillips, and IIfenesh Hadera. Directed by Steven C. Miller. 'Nightbitch' | Dec. 6 | Searchlight Pictures An artist who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom seeks a new chapter in her life and encounters just that when her nightly routine takes a surreal turn and her maternal instincts begin to manifest in canine form. Starring Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Zoe Chao, Mary Holland, and Jessica Harper. Directed by Marielle Heller. 'The Order' | Dec. 6 | Vertical Entertainment A string of violent robberies in the Pacific Northwest leads veteran FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law) to a white supremacist group that plans to overthrow the federal government. Also starring Nicholas Hoult, Jurnee Smollett, Tye Sheridan, Alison Oliver, and Marc Maron. Directed by Justin Kurzel.'The Return' | Dec. 6 | Bleecker Street Media A retelling of Homer’s "Odyssey:" After 20 years away, Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The king finds much has changed since he left to fight in the Trojan War. His beloved wife, Penelope (Juliette Binoche), is a prisoner in her own home and hounded to choose a new husband. Their son faces death at the hands of suitors who see him as an obstacle in their pursuit of Penelope and the kingdom. Odysseus is no longer the mighty warrior his people remember, but he must face his past to save his family. Also starring Charlie Plummer, Amir Wilson, Jaz Hutchins, Tom Rhys Harries, and Marwan Kenzari. Directed by Uberto Pasolini. 'Y2K' | Dec. 6 | A24 On the last night of 1999, two high school juniors crash a New Year's Eve party, only to find themselves fighting for their lives when Y2K becomes a reality. Starring Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison, Kyle Mooney (who also directs), Alicia Silverstone, and Fred Durst. 'Mary' | Dec. 6 | Netflix A retelling of the life of Mary, mother of Jesus, and the birth of Jesus Christ. In this timeless coming-of-age story, Mary is shunned following an otherworldly conception and forced to flee when Herod's insatiable thirst for power ignites a murderous pursuit of the newborn. Starring Noa Cohen, Ido Tako, Stephanie Nur, Mili Avital, and Anthony Hopkins as King Herod. Directed by D.J. Caruso. 'Maria' | Dec. 11 | Netflix Famed opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie) retreats to Paris in the 1970s after a glamorous yet tumultuous life in the public eye. Also starring Haluk Bilginer, Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Valeria Golino, and Caspar Phillipson as John F. Kennedy. Directed by Pablo Larraín. 'Carry On' | Dec. 13 | Netflix A mysterious traveler blackmails Ethan Kopek, a young TSA officer, to let a dangerous package slip through security and onto a Christmas Day flight. But Ethan is not so easily persuaded to let this traveler’s sinister holiday plans go unstopped. Starring Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, Logan Marshall-Green, Sofia Carson, Theo Rossi, and Dean Norris. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. 'Babygirl' | Dec. 25 | A24 A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with a much younger intern. Starring Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas, and Sophie Wilde. Directed by Halina Reijn. Complete list by date: "That Christmas" | Dec. 4 "Werewolves" | Dec. 6 "Nightbitch" | Dec. 6 "The Order" | Dec. 6 "The Return" | Dec. 6 "Y2K" | Dec. 6 "Mary" | Dec. 6 "Maria" | Dec. 11"Kraven the Hunter" | Dec. 12 "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" | Dec. 13 "Carry On" | Dec. 13 "Mufasa: The Lion King" | Dec. 20 "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" | Dec. 20 "Homestead" | Dec. 20 "Nosferatu" | Dec. 25 "Babygirl" | Dec. 25 "A Complete Unknown" | Dec. 25

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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz that it was important for the United States and Israel to be in close consultation over events unfolding in Syria, the Pentagon said on Wednesday after their call."Secretary Austin emphasized the...