The Morning Watch: Challenges Of Making CGI Skin Look Real In Movies, 'Titans' Two-Season Recap & More

(The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fan-made productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.)

In this edition, find out why it's so hard to make computer generated skin look real, with examples from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within to the recent Alita: Battle Angel. Plus, recap what happened in the first couple seasons of Titans before the third season arrives next week. And finally, watch Matt Damon hold his tongue to the flames in a new episode of Hot Ones.

First up, Vox brought in Weta Digital's Nick Epstein and Luxion's Henrik Wann Jense to explain the challenges of creating realistic CGI skin for movies. Listen as they explain how albedo, displacements, subsurface scattering, and dynamic changes inform the creation of CGI skin, and see how the tools and technology have progressed over the past 20 years.

Next, with the third season of Titans slated to arrive on HBO Max starting on August 12, the streaming service has provided a recap on what's happened to the DC Comics superheroes so far in the first two seasons. Get the lowdown on Rachel (Teagan Croft), Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites), Kory (Anna Diop), and Hawk and Dove (Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly) as they deal with their deadliest adversary yet: Deathstroke (Esai Morales).

Finally, Matt Damon faced some heat recently after he offered up some information that no one asked him about. But before that happened, he got fired up by trying some of the spiciest hot wings around. In the latest episode of Hot Ones, Matt Damon talks about his extensive career, why he loves comedian Bill Burr, and a showdown with Phil Jackson at the 2008 NBA Finals.