Monthly Archives: October 2019
Matrix 4 Reportedly to Feature Young Neo and Morpheus
Warner Bros. is reportedly looking for two actors to portray younger versions of Neo and Morpheus in the next instalment of the iconic sci-fi series, The Matrix.
Variety reporter Justin Kroll, who originally broke the news about Matrix 4, recently appeared as a guest on an episode of Robbie Fox's My Mom's Basement podcast, in which he stated that casting announcements for these characters could be coming in the next couple of weeks.
"Now I think within the next week or two we’ll have Young Morpheus and Young Neo news coming up," he shared. "Because I know Lana's meeting with people quite aggressively because they want to shoot that in February."
The Bloodborne Community Is Holding Its Own Halloween Event
The Bloodborne community is organising a month-long Halloween event where players must dress in costume, head to Yharnam, and invade as much as possible.
The unofficial "Official Return to Yharnam" party runs from midnight on October 5 to November 5, and the rules are taking shape based on which suggestions get upvoted the most on the Bloodborne subreddit.
So far the rules include: Create a new character, dress from a list of costumes (like the Grim Reaper - made from a crow hunter outfit with the foreigner hood and burial blade), and invade as often as you're able.
Joker: Conrad Veidt and 4 Other Movies That Inspired the DC Film
Joker director Todd Phillips was unknowingly inspired by the very actor and film that inspired the comic book Joker's look -- Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs -- for his new box office smash.
In a recent interview with IGN, Phillips revealed the five movies Joker fans need to watch to understand the influences for his interpretation of Joker. These are the films that Phillips and his co-screenwriter Scott Silver drew from the most for their gritty, more realistic interpretation of the iconic DC Comics supervillain. And there's not a Batman movie among them.
In my review of Joker, which I gave a 10 out of 10, I said: "Clearly drawing its spirit and style from classic ‘70s and ‘80s films like Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, A Clockwork Orange, and Dog Day Afternoon, director Todd Phillips’ Joker presents a Gotham City that is unmistakably a stand-in for the hellish New York City of the era." As it turns out, three of those films are among those that Phillips, during our interview with him, listed as the films Joker fans need to see to fully appreciate the movie.
Twitch’s Restrictive Contract Drove Ninja to Mixer Deal
The world of video game streaming shook earlier this year when Tyler “Ninja” Blevins announced that he would be leaving Twitch and streaming exclusively on Microsoft’s Mixer platform. Now, Blevins’ wife and manager Jessica shared how Twitch’s unreasonable contract was a key reason behind the move.
did not listen to us,” Jessica said in an interview with Business Insider. “Everything we were asking, it never came back reflecting our wishes – and that’s completely outside of finances.” According to Jessica, “Money was the last thing on our mind.”
Surface Pro X Hands-On Impressions
The Surface Pro series has been coasting on incremental improvements for a while now, but the Surface Pro X is breaking that pattern by steering away from Microsoft's tried-and-true formula.
At face value, the Surface Pro X is a far slimmer device than any Windows tablet Microsoft has made previously. Measuring in at just 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.28, holding the device feels like a jumbo sized iPhone 8 Max with a four times larger display.
Surprisingly, though, the Surface Pro X isn’t any lighter than the also newly introduced Surface Pro 7, both devices weigh in at the same 1.7 pounds. However, the Pro X’s slimmer profile and curved edges definitely feel more pleasing to hold in your hands thanks to the Pro 7's sharp angles.
Why Movie Studios Might Lose Rights to ’80s Franchises Like Terminator
A string of copyright termination notices in the past year could mean that certain movie studios lose the exclusive rights to popular '80s franchises like Terminator, Die Hard, Predator, and more.
It’s all part of a legal trend with roots from back when these major franchises were finding their footing. As The Hollywood Reporter writes, Congress amended intellectual copyright law in the late 1970s to allow creators to grab the IP back from studios after a few decades. After 35 years, termination notices can be served up to their controlling parties.
Sayonara Wild Hearts Review – Falling Star
Playing Sayonara Wild Hearts' best levels is an intangible, hard-to-describe feeling. When the art, the movement, and the music all come together in a track, it's absolutely captivating. But it's also fleeting, and I spent the majority of my time playing Sayonara Wild Hearts chasing that feeling. It came through in a few standout levels, but for most of the game, I found myself on the verge of falling in love with songs only to fall short of that high.
It's an interesting kind of music game. The main goal is to simply flow with the music, rather than hit a series of precise rhythm-based inputs or dance along to beats. Crystalline hearts line the paths you ride (or fly) through, and often, following the hearts is the best way to get through a level safely without scrambling to avoid oncoming obstacles. Timed inputs are reserved for flashier moves--big jumps, deft dodges, graceful attacks--and these sequences are all scripted, so all you have to do is hit the button somewhat on time and then watch as the moves play out to the music. The camera and forward movement, including your speed, are automatic, too, leaving you to move only from side to side with rare exception. This all lends Sayonara Wild Hearts a dreamlike feel; you are both participant and observer, somewhat in control but mostly just along for the ride.
Initially, the dreaminess of Sayonara Wild Hearts is enchanting. The scripted moves, which often come during fight sequences against brightly colored antagonists, have a distinct magical-girl flair. Dodging an attack becomes a balletic leap, a flurry of punches culminates in an explosion of color, and even punch-induced vomit (in one level) is so colorful and abstract that it flows seamlessly with the overall aesthetic. Some levels are bathed in electric neons, while others are more pensive, dark blue interdimensional affairs. And yet all of them, even at their most bright and exciting, are tinged with melancholy, largely due to the heartbreak-infused pop soundtrack--it's the kind of music that, if it were to come on in a bar, would make you feel incredibly lonely but also kind of like dancing.
When this all works together, it really works. My favorite level, Dead of Night, closely matches the music with the action and, as a result, the song has impact. During the buildup, you ride your motorcycle through the forest, weaving between trees and picking up hearts while all is calm. Ahead of you are four masked enemies; they strike a group pose, and then, right as the drop hits, their three-headed wolf tank appears and the mini-boss-like sequence begins. You slide side to side to dodge attacks, then hit X with the prompt to leap over the tank as the music swells. It's timed beautifully, and you feel a sort of abstract sadness as the singer belts, "I'm the only one alive in the dead of night," and the tank slides, defeated, on the forest floor. You've "won," but it's bittersweet.
Most of the levels, however, aren't as finely tuned. A lot of times, the timing-based moves feel offbeat, like you should hit them a moment or two early or late to really be in-time with the music--or like they aren't really set to the tempo at all. It makes it hard to get into a lot of the songs, even though the soundtrack as a whole is excellent, and distracts from the overall spectacle of a level--you have to watch the prompts' visual cues rather than listen for the right timing most of the time.
Movement, too, can disrupt the flow of things. It can be hard to line yourself up properly for hearts, turns, and jumps; you might find yourself a little bit to the right or left of where you thought you'd be. This is largely caused by the independent camera, which sometimes leaves you blind going into turns or unsure of how obstacles and collectibles will line up. The highly stylized, dreamy feel of each level also leaves some ambiguity as to the placement of things. I found myself wishing there were either fewer obstacles or tighter controls; while the flowy feel of moving side to side fits the aesthetic perfectly, it's hard to stay in the zone when you're constantly tipping the analog sticks slightly to better line yourself up.
Each level continues into the next not like tracks on an album would, but with short breaks in between. On top of that, the main story mode kicks you to the menu after each level to see your score and select the next song. There is a seamless mode of these same levels in the extras section, and the broken-up structure lends itself well to mobile or handheld play--but the story is the first mode you're introduced to, and it's only about the length of a long album. Where you might listen to an album all the way through at least once before jumping around and picking songs, you do the opposite in Sayonara Wild Hearts, and that saps it of its momentum.
On repeat playthroughs, I found myself getting more and more used to Sayonara Wild Hearts' quirks and better appreciating each level as I gained the muscle memory for them. Only a few hit me like Dead of Night did, and those levels are stellar. But the rest are either forgettable or somehow discordant, whether because of movement issues or strange timing. I wanted to get lost in the daydream it presented, but I kept getting ripped back to reality, just a bit more melancholic than when I started.
Sayonara Wild Hearts Review – All That Glitters
Playing Sayonara Wild Hearts' best levels is an intangible, hard-to-describe feeling. When the art, the movement, and the music all come together in a track, it's absolutely captivating. But it's also fleeting, and I spent the majority of my time playing Sayonara Wild Hearts chasing that feeling. It came through in a few standout levels, but for most of the game, I found myself on the verge of falling in love with songs only to fall short of that high.
It's an interesting kind of music game. The main goal is to simply flow with the music, rather than hit a series of precise rhythm-based inputs or dance along to beats. Crystalline hearts line the paths you ride (or fly) through, and often, following the hearts is the best way to get through a level safely without scrambling to avoid oncoming obstacles. Timed inputs are reserved for flashier moves--big jumps, deft dodges, graceful attacks--and these sequences are all scripted, so all you have to do is hit the button somewhat on time and then watch as the moves play out to the music. The camera and forward movement, including your speed, are automatic, too, leaving you to move only from side to side with rare exception. This all lends Sayonara Wild Hearts a dreamlike feel; you are both participant and observer, somewhat in control but mostly just along for the ride.
Initially, the dreaminess of Sayonara Wild Hearts is enchanting. The scripted moves, which often come during fight sequences against brightly colored antagonists, have a distinct magical-girl flair. Dodging an attack becomes a balletic leap, a flurry of punches culminates in an explosion of color, and even punch-induced vomit (in one level) is so colorful and abstract that it flows seamlessly with the overall aesthetic. Some levels are bathed in electric neons, while others are more pensive, dark blue interdimensional affairs. And yet all of them, even at their most bright and exciting, are tinged with melancholy, largely due to the heartbreak-infused pop soundtrack--it's the kind of music that, if it were to come on in a bar, would make you feel incredibly lonely but also kind of like dancing.
When this all works together, it really works. My favorite level, Dead of Night, closely matches the music with the action and, as a result, the song has impact. During the buildup, you ride your motorcycle through the forest, weaving between trees and picking up hearts while all is calm. Ahead of you are four masked enemies; they strike a group pose, and then, right as the drop hits, their three-headed wolf tank appears and the mini-boss-like sequence begins. You slide side to side to dodge attacks, then hit X with the prompt to leap over the tank as the music swells. It's timed beautifully, and you feel a sort of abstract sadness as the singer belts, "I'm the only one alive in the dead of night," and the tank slides, defeated, on the forest floor. You've "won," but it's bittersweet.
Most of the levels, however, aren't as finely tuned. A lot of times, the timing-based moves feel offbeat, like you should hit them a moment or two early or late to really be in-time with the music--or like they aren't really set to the tempo at all. It makes it hard to get into a lot of the songs, even though the soundtrack as a whole is excellent, and distracts from the overall spectacle of a level--you have to watch the prompts' visual cues rather than listen for the right timing most of the time.
Movement, too, can disrupt the flow of things. It can be hard to line yourself up properly for hearts, turns, and jumps; you might find yourself a little bit to the right or left of where you thought you'd be. This is largely caused by the independent camera, which sometimes leaves you blind going into turns or unsure of how obstacles and collectibles will line up. The highly stylized, dreamy feel of each level also leaves some ambiguity as to the placement of things. I found myself wishing there were either fewer obstacles or tighter controls; while the flowy feel of moving side to side fits the aesthetic perfectly, it's hard to stay in the zone when you're constantly tipping the analog sticks slightly to better line yourself up.
Each level continues into the next not like tracks on an album would, but with short breaks in between. On top of that, the main story mode kicks you to the menu after each level to see your score and select the next song. There is a seamless mode of these same levels in the extras section, and the broken-up structure lends itself well to mobile or handheld play--but the story is the first mode you're introduced to, and it's only about the length of a long album. Where you might listen to an album all the way through at least once before jumping around and picking songs, you do the opposite in Sayonara Wild Hearts, and that saps it of its momentum.
On repeat playthroughs, I found myself getting more and more used to Sayonara Wild Hearts' quirks and better appreciating each level as I gained the muscle memory for them. Only a few hit me like Dead of Night did, and those levels are stellar. But the rest are either forgettable or somehow discordant, whether because of movement issues or strange timing. I wanted to get lost in the daydream it presented, but I kept getting ripped back to reality, just a bit more melancholic than when I started.
D&D’s Celebrity Players Explain Its Recent Surge in Popularity
Dungeons & Dragons has been around since 1974, when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson published the first rule set - one that sparked the dawn of almost all other tabletop role-playing games - from a basement in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. By the end of the 1980s, tens of millions of players worldwide were plundering dungeons and slaying dragons, and despite social stigma (and a pretty intense political movement) during the 70s and 80s, D&D remained one of the most popular games in all of geekdom.
Now, more than 45 years after the birth of the game, D&D has more players than ever. But why has this traditionally stigmatized game become so incredibly successful? We asked some of the biggest names in the world of Dungeons & Dragons what they think makes D&D a critical hit.
How Tom Holland Helped Save the Spider-Man MCU Deal
If you, like countless others, are breathing a huge sigh of relief that Sony and Marvel have decided to make nice and partner on a third Spider-Man MCU film, you’ve got Tom Holland to thank. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor played an instrumental role in convincing the powers that be at Sony and Disney to patch things up.