Monthly Archives: January 2019

The LEGO Movie 2’s Lord and Miller Explain Their Meta Universe

The animated blockbuster The LEGO Movie was more than just another nostalgic romp through the world of anthropomorphic toys. As we learned in that film’s surprising climax, it actually takes place within the imagination of a child. To young audiences, this was a mindblower. To older audiences, it was a head-scratcher, which raised a lot of questions about how this world really works.

In a Q&A after Tuesday's screening of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Phil Lord and Chris Miller - who co-wrote and directed the original film, and co-wrote and produced the sequel - revealed that they have answers to our nerdiest questions about the underlying laws of the LEGO movie universe.

Continue reading…

Bethesda Squashes Rumours of Fallout 76 Going Free-to-Play

Retail copies of Fallout 76 are not being pulled in preparation for the game going free-to-play.

Rumours began circulating following a video from YouTuber TheQuartering who presented a number of instances of the Standard Edition of Fallout being unavailable on Australian retailer EB Games' website and having notably low stock on Amazon.com.

In the video, he speculates that the game could be going free-to-play, with the video description reading, "Someone reached out to me from EB Games in Australia and mentioned the game was likely to go free to play."

After gathering momentum on Reddit, one player asked the developer outright on Twitter about this rumour, saying they would want a refund if the there was any truth to claims.

Continue reading…

From Glass to Last Airbender: Ranking M. Night Shyamalan’s Movies

When he burst onto the scene with The Sixth Sense in 1999, M. Night Shyamalan was widely regarded as one of the most promising new directors in Hollywood. But his career since has had more than its share of ups and downs, resulting in successes like Unbreakable and critical and commercial duds like The Happening.

Having made a self-funded resurgence - a trail that began by taking out a $5 million dollar loan to make 2015's The Visit and then using The Visit's profits to make another low-budget scare-fest, 2016's Split - Shyamalan is now back on top, so to speak. He's still making quaint films when compared to the MCU blockbusters, for example, as his latest film, Glass, only came with a $20 million price tag,

Continue reading…

How Shazam! Is the Foil to Man of Steel

Some plot details for Shazam! are included in this set visit report.

From day one, it became clear to Zachary Levi that Shazam! would be vastly different from Superman, despite some shared abilities.

While Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel tends to snap necks and plow bad guys straight through brick walls, Levi’s hero, who’s really the tween Billy Batson magically transformed into a fully grown super being, giggles with glee upon realizing he’s bullet proof. Filming their first scene together on the Toronto convenience store set last April, Jack Dylan Grazer, who plays Billy’s foster brother Freddy, stares in awe at Levi before shouting to their assailants, “Shoot him again! Shoot him again!” He has to film it for YouTube, of course.

Continue reading…

Shazam! Movie Actually Has 8 Villains

Warning! Some plot details ahead for Shazam!.

If you keep tabs on the internet’s seedy underbelly of superhero happenings, then you probably heard the possibility of the Seven Deadly Sins from the DC Comics making their way to the big screen for Shazam!. Finally, IGN can confirm the rumors are true.

The Seven Deadly Sins will play a major role in Shazam! in that Mark Strong’s Dr. Thaddeus Sivana draws his power from them, IGN confirmed through an April 2018 visit to the film’s set. There will be much more to unpack at a later date, but for now, Strong says, “In the New 52 incarnation that Geoff’s

Continue reading…

New to Netflix for February

Netflix's February listings are here, with new stand-up specials from Ray Romano and Ken Jeong, new seasons of One Day at a Time and The Dragon Prince, and a brand new Steven Soderbergh film!

There's also a new dark comedy from Orange is the New Black's Natasha Lyonne, a series based on Dark Horse Comics' The Umbrella Academy, and Jake Gyllenhaal battling killer art in Dan Gilroy's Velvet Buzzsaw.

As for movies, you can catch all the Jaws flicks, the American Pie saga, Pretty in Pink, Edge of Seventeen, Final Destination, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Oh, and here's everything LEAVING Netflix in February.

Continue reading…

Far Cry New Dawn Gets RPG Update, Goes Beyond Hope County

Since its reveal at The Game Awards 2018, we’ve already learned a fair bit about the post-nuclear-fallout superbloomed world of Far Cry New Dawn, including an exclusive look as part of December’s IGN First. Recently, though, we got to sit down and roam around on our own for a few hours, and it’s clear that while this is still very much a Far Cry game, it’s trying to live up to its resurgent title.

All of the staples from Far Cry 5 are still here - taking down outposts, a co-op friendly campaign, recruiting allies (one of whom is an adorable dog, Timber, that can ride in your motorcycle’s sidecar, making this a strong contender for my GotY already), but Ubisoft is also trying to keep its apparent 2018 resolution to change up their formulas - or at least mix and match them in new ways.

Continue reading…

Final Round of DICE 2019 Roundtable Leaders Announced

The DICE 2019 Summit will bring with it a fresh series of roundtable leaders, including representatives from ID@Xbox, Respawn Entertainment, Valve, IGN and more.

Announced through the DICE Summit website, the nine roundtable topics these Leaders facilitate will “be explored from the varied perspectives of table participants.”

IGN’s editor-in-chief Tina Amini will be leading the roundtable How to engage with an increasingly invested community. Blair Durkee, a special projects consultant for gaming with GLAAD, will facilitate the roundtable Marketing for Everyone: Selling Games to LGBTQ Players. Amir Rao, studio director at Supergiant Games, will lead a roundtable on creative ownership.

Continue reading…