Anime director Hideaki Anno, of Evangelion fame, is producing his studio’s first TV anime series: “The Dragon Dentist.” Crunchyroll reported today that, in February 2017, Studio Khara will spin the 2014 short into two 45-minute episodes. It’s a well-wrought short with excellent world-building and character design, so I can’t wait to see how Khara will handle it.
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With the 2016 summer movie season all but officially over, plenty of movie bloggers/journalists have been quick to say this past summer has been rather lackluster for film. I would argue otherwise – while some of the blockbusters have crashed and burned at the box office, this past weekend Suicide Squad and Sausage Party still performed strong at the box office. Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War and Disney’s Pete’s Dragon were highlights of the summer as well. So why all the “doom & gloom”? That’s likely because most audiences never really gave some of the best films of summer 2016 a chance. There were quite a few hidden gems out there waiting to be seen, if you were brave enough to give them your time (and money). ›››
Continue reading Looking Back: The Unseen Gems of the 2016 Summer Movie Season
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Don’t Breathe, the second feature film from Uruguayan writer-director Fede Alvarez (of 2013’s Evil Dead reboot) produced by legendary filmmaker Sam Raimi, is the depraved offspring of Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring and Wes Craven’s The People Under the Stairs. It’s about a group of teens who try to rob a blind man’s house, only to discover he’s not as passive as they expected. Jane Levy, who already earned her Final Girl Merit Badge as Mia in Alvarez’s Evil Dead, stars as Rocky, a young woman determined to escape her abusive mother and save her younger sister (Emma Bercovici) from a dead-end existence in Detroit. ›››
Continue reading Review: Alvarez’s ‘Don’t Breathe’ is Effective & Engrossing Exploitation
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“Honestly, who cares? I can’t trust my feelings.” Starz Media & Orion Pictures have released a trailer for the comedy My Blind Brother, about a romantic rivalry between two brothers. Adam Scott stars as the more handsome, athletic sibling along with Nick Kroll as his brother who has always been by his side most of his life. They both fall for the same woman, comedian powerhouse Jenny Slate, causing some chaos that leads to shenanigans which is meant to make people laugh. The cast includes Zoe Kazan, Talia Tabin and Charlie Hewson. While this doesn’t look as bad as it sounds, it doesn’t look that great either, with a few sparse moments of genuine comedy amidst some awkward scenes of cheesiness. At least it has Jenny Slate. ›››
Continue reading Nick Kroll & Adam Scott in First Trailer for Comedy ‘My Blind Brother’
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“What are we doing here?” A trailer has debuted for an indie coming-of-age romantic drama called First Girl I Love, which I saw at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. This sweet little flick is about an awkward love triangle that forms when Anne, played by Dylan Gelula, realizes she is in love with Sasha, the most popular girl at her high school, played by Brianna Hildebrand. She confesses this to her friend Clifton, played by Mateo Arias, who has a thing for her and he gets jealous and it all starts to get awkward. This is a pretty good film, a bit cheesy at times, but it’s another solid cinematic story about young first love. ›››
Continue reading Official Trailer for Sundance Coming-of-Age Drama ‘First Girl I Loved’
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“I always thought this house was haunted…” Momentum has released a trailer for an indie thriller called Jack Goes Home, from actor-turned-filmmaker Thomas Dekker, who both wrote and directed this film. Rory Culkin stars as a magazine editor, along with Britt Robertson as his fiance, who goes back to his home town after learning that his parents are in a deadly car accident. Things get crazy when he returns. “Jack comes to learn that the idyllic world he has believed in since infancy is in fact a nightmare playground full of lies, deception, violence and murder.” The full cast includes Lin Shaye, Natasha Lyonne, Nikki Reed, Daveigh Chase and Louis Hunter. This trailer gets very creepy and very weird in the second half. ›››
Continue reading Full Trailer for Creepy Indie Thriller ‘Jack Goes Home’ with Rory Culkin
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Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa will perform at the Call of Duty XP 2016 event next week, Activision has announced. The duo are currently on the road together for what they’re calling the High Road Tour.
The performance is scheduled for Sunday, September 4, at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The concert will serve as the send-off to Call of Duty XP, which wraps up that day.
This isn’t the first time Activision has signed big-name talent for a Call of Duty XP concert. For the inaugural event in 2011, Activision hired none other than Kanye West to perform. Additionally, the company booked Eminem and Jay-Z for E3 shows in the past. Also, Blizzard often hires major stars for its BlizzCon concerts; past performers included Blink 182, Tenacious D, and Ozzy Osbourne.
Call of Duty XP 2016 runs September 2-4. A “limited number” of tickets are being opened, including access to the concert with Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, though pricing was not announced. The Call of Duty XP website states that ticket prices start at $50.
The concert is just one part of Call of Duty XP. Attendees can go hands-on with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare‘s multiplayer and the crazy-looking Zombies in Spaceland. Additionally, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’s remastered version will be playable, along with some Call of Duty: Black Ops III DLC, maybe the newly announced Salvation.
Not only that, but attendees can play paintball on a real-world version of the iconic Black Ops Nuketown multiplayer map, while there is also an “intense” laser tag experience inspired by Zombies in Spaceland. Further, the finals of the $2 million Call of Duty World League Championship will run during the weekend.
If you can’t make it to the show in person, some of the events, including the World League Championship, will be broadcast live on Twitch and YouTube.
GameSpot will be in attendance at Call of Duty XP 2016 next weekend; check back soon for more.
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One of the benefits of signing up for EA’s free Battlefield Insider service was early access to Battlefield 1‘s upcoming beta. It wasn’t specified how much sooner Insiders would get to play, but now we know.
Writing on Twitter, the Battlefield account revealed that Insiders can jump in one day early, starting on August 30 instead of August 31. The important thing to note is that you needed to have signed up for the Battlefield Insider program by August 21 and selected your platform of choice to get the early access code. This code will be delivered by email, but it doesn’t appear that EA has sent them out yet.
We also don’t know if pre-loading will be available; a recent report claimed the beta client’s file size is more than 6 GB. Another thing to note is the open beta is available to everyone; no code required.
Though we now know when Battlefield 1’s beta will begin, EA has yet to confirm when it will end.
You may have to wait until next week to play Battlefield 1’s beta, but a beta for another EA-published game, Titanfall 2, kicks off later today. Check out this post to find out exactly when it starts and how to get in.
Battlefield 1 comes out on October 21, while Titanfall 2 lands on October 28. EA has said it doesn’t have cannibalization concerns because the shooter market is so massive and each game is different.
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The Battlefield 1 beta begins on August 31 for everyone and sooner if you’re a Battlefield Insider. While you have to wait a little while longer to play, you can now listen to the shooter’s excellent theme music.
With the new Battlefield 4 UI update now available, there is a page for Battlefield 1 that plays the game’s theme music. As you can hear in the video from PoeticWhisper, it’s an orchestral-style song. If you weren’t a fan of Battlefield 4’s electronic-style theme, this will be a welcome return to form (via DualShockers).
This actually isn’t the first time we’ve heard Battlefield 1’s theme music, as it also popped up in July when the game’s alpha was released for members of the press and others. At the time, it wasn’t clear if that was the song’s final form and we still don’t know if the newer video contains the final cut.
Keep checking back with GameSpot for more on Battlefield 1’s theme music and more.
The Battlefield 1 beta kicks off August 31 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Battlefield Insiders who signed up by August 21 will receive a code by email to play early, but it appears those haven’t gone out yet. We’ll bring you more news on Battlefield 1’s beta in the days ahead.
Battlefield 1’s full release is scheduled for October 21.
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Nintendo is bringing its franchises and characters to Universal Studios theme parks in Florida and Japan. While these parks have yet to open and specific rides and attractions have not been announced, Nintendo sounds quite optimistic about what it can achieve.
“It’s a huge opportunity,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Alist Daily. “What has been really gratifying for me is that the teams between Universal and Nintendo are working tremendously well together.”
Fils-Aime added that the team at Universal not only of course has expert knowledge of how to make a theme park, but they also “have a great affinity for [Nintendo’s] IP.”
“What this promises for the guest at the Universal Studios theme parks is something that’s really magical,” Fils-Aime teased.
In the interview, Fils-Aime specifically mentioned “immersive amusement interactive situations” with no talk about more traditional rides like rollercoasters. That may not be indicative of anything, however.
Fils-Aime also teased that the designers at Universal are making their newest attractions with full knowledge that riders are likely to have a smartphone with them. He teased that your phone may play some role in Nintendo’s attractions at the Universal parks.
“These theme park designers are considering that so many of their patrons have a smart device,” he said. “They’re thinking about what that means to the overall experience. I’m not going to share anything in this interview, but certainly the Universal team is aware of it. Certainly it is something that they are considering as they work with us to create this theme park experience.”
Nintendo and Universal have not announced any specific rides/attractions, but we would imagine there would have to be some form of real-world Mario Kart.
The official line is that these attractions will be “major” and make use of Nintendo’s “most famous characters and games.” Universal and Nintendo will create “spectacular, dedicated experiences based on Nintendo’s wildly popular games, characters, and worlds.” As of May 2015, Nintendo and Universal were still in the process of creating concepts.
According to a March 2016 report, around 40 billion yen ($351 million) is being invested into the Nintendo attractions at Universal Studios Japan. It was also mentioned that the size and scope of the Nintendo-Universal park arrangement is similar to the deal Universal made for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter area, based on the Harry Potter series.
The Nintendo attractions at Universal Studios Japan are aiming to be completed by 2020, which is also the year the the Olympics comes to Tokyo. There is no word on when Universal Studios Florida might open its Nintendo attractions, however.
Nintendo’s partnership with Universal, which was announced in May 2015, aims to expand the reach of Nintendo’s characters and franchises. Nintendo CEO Tatsumi Kimishima has stressed how important that would be going forward. As a result of changes in the gaming landscape, fewer and fewer young people are finding out about Nintendo games through…games. Instead, they’re discovering Nintendo and its characters through things like officially licensed Mario toothbrushes.
Expect these kinds of licensing deals to continue and possibly increase, Kimishima said. Now that Nintendo sees itself as an entertainment company, the deal with Universal and other licensing arrangements makes a lot of sense. Nintendo’s licensing efforts could even extend to the big-screen.
In addition, there was a report of Nintendo producing a Legend of Zelda TV show for Netflix (“Game of Thrones for a family audience“), though Nintendo has since distanced itself from that speculation.
Nintendo’s next console, which is codenamed NX, is scheduled to come out in March 2017. Fils-Aime recently said Nintendo must do better at communicating the novelty of the system.
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