Watches, Stories, & Gear: An Incredible New Camera from Hasselblad, the Stanley Cup Craze, and a Jurassic Park Reboot

“Watches, Stories, and Gear” is a roundup of our favorite content, watch or otherwise, from around the internet. Here, we support other creators, explore interesting content that inspires us, and put a spotlight on causes we believe in. Oh, and any gear we happen to be digging on this week. We love gear.

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Jurassic Park to Get a Full Reboot

Jurassic Park is indisputably one of the most successful pieces of intellectual property ever, so perhaps it’s not a surprise to hear, as the A/V Club reports, that the series is getting the reboot treatment just a few years after the sequel trilogy ended. Still, it’s kind of strange to consider that this is now the norm in Hollywood – recycling successful ideas with greater speed every cycle. For movie fans of a certain age who grew up watching the original Jurassic Park and its sequels, the idea of starting all over again is almost transgressive, like trampling over a sacred text. On the bright side, screenwriter David Koepp, who wrote the first two Jurassic Park movies, is expected to be back for the new one, adding an heir of legitimacy to the project and being a sole connecting point between the new and old. 

Hasselblad’s Impressive New Camera 

The photography community has been abuzz this week as reviews are pouring in for Hasselblad’s new 907X & CFV 100C Medium Format Mirrorless Camera, which has an amazing 100 megapixel sensor. The modular design can be used in three distinct ways, offering unrivaled flexibility within Hasselblad’s camera system. Its design, composed of a digital back and separate camera body, allows owners of old Hasselblad V-system film cameras to make use of those old lenses in a new digital format. It’s an ingenious design, and it appears that Hasselblad has nailed, well, everything else as well, as camera reviewers across YouTube and the rest of the internet are almost unanimously blown away. The video linked above from YouTuber Willem Verbeek is a great overview of what the camera is capable of, and reviews like this one from TechRadar get even more granular. 

A Teaser Drops for Netflix’s Ripley

Back on the reboot front, Netflix dropped an initial teaser for their new Ripley series this week, a new take on The Talented Mr. Ripley, starring Andrew Scott, Jonathan Flynn, and Dakota Fanning in the roles made famous by Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow in the 90s. The limited series is written and directed by Steven Zaillian, the writer behind movies like Searching for Bobby Fischer, A Civil Action, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and so many more. It’s shot in gorgeous black and white, judging from the trailer Zaillian has imbued this material with an appropriately dark tone. Anthony Minghella’s film from 1999 is rightly hailed as a modern classic, but we’re all for an inventive reimagining, especially when so many talented people are involved. 

The New Season of True Detective Calls Back to the First

True Detective is back on HBO this month, and the new season has a noticeably different vibe than the first three, largely thanks to being helmed by Issa Lopez and the complete absence of series creator Nic Pizzolatto. But fans have noticed small details in the first two episodes of the fourth season that seem to connect directly to the legendary first season of the show. The Ringer’s Daniel Chin takes you through them here, but in short it would be appear that season 4 is set in the hometown of Rust Cohle, one of the protagonists of season 1, and the financial backing for the arctic research facility we’re introduced to early in the new series has a tie to the malevolent group at center of the first season’s big conspiracy. There are other parallels as well, and we’re only two hours in, so there are likely more Easter eggs to discover. It’s all part of what makes the True Detective experience so rich and rewarding for longtime fans. 

Stanley Cup Mania

Why are Stanley cups seemingly everywhere all of a sudden? We honestly have no idea, but if you’re on social media in any significant way, you’ve likely been bombarded with Stanley cup content over the last few weeks. The popular (and rather expensive) travel cups are having a viral moment, and honestly, it could be all over by the time this edition of Watches, Stories, & Gear hits the web. Such is the nature of internet trends. If you must consume one piece of Stanley cup content, though, make it this piece by Heather Schwedel in Slate, who spent a week walking around with a Stanley in NYC, and provided an authentic, surprising, and genuinely funny account of her experience.

A Big Sale on Topo Bags 

We’re pretty big fans of Topo Designs around here, particularly their fantastic collection of backpacks. They’re in the midst of a pretty big sale on some great bags and other items, and offering significant discounts on closeout items. The Rover Pack Classic, for example, is perhaps their most iconic bag design, and it can be had for just $49 at the time of this writing, down from a regular price of $99. There’s a bunch of other cool stuff on sale as well, including hats, bike bags, neck gaiters, and more. Check it out here.