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Zar Amir is to star in The Royal Shakespeare Company’s first videogame, Lili – an interactive thriller inspired by Macbeth.

By the pricking of our thumbs, something interactive this way comes. Or something. The Royal Shakespeare Company, previously better known for its theatrics, is turning its hand to videogames with the forthcoming Lili. It’s an interactive noir thriller loosely inspired by Macbeth, and will star actor and director Zar Amir.

Flipping the Bard’s script somewhat, the story will revolve around Amir’s Lady Macbeth (known to her friends as Lili), the resident of a stylised Iran which has become an authoritarian state. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lili will employ the assistance of some familiar witches, here ‘reimagined’ as hackers capable of manipulating the state’s security cameras and spying apparatus.

Going by the premise and the use of live-action footage, Lili appears to be closely inspired by...

Cynthia Erivo has nailed the subtle method of dressing game throughout the Wicked press tour. I especially like how she’s embracing her character Elphaba’s signature green hue with a dash of glitz and flair rather than wearing something too costumey.

At the London photocall for the musical fantasy comedy-drama movie, Cynthia sported yet another simple but striking and wickedly amazing ensemble.

Cynthia Erivo Stuns in a Custom Green Moschino Power Suit

Cynthia donned an outfit especially made for her by Moschino, a brand she has worn frequently in recent years. Her admiration of the brand didn’t surprise me because I felt their styles were similar: bold and unique, often incorporating a range of inspirations and embracing femininity, edginess, and glamour.

Cynthia ditched the more elaborate dresses for the Wicked London photocall, opting instead for a more understated style that, in my opinion, is appropriate for the event.

SiriusXM’s Pearl Jam Radio (Ch. 22) is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Pearl Jam’s third studio album, “Vitalogy,” which was released on November 22, 1994.

Pearl Jam RadioMusic spanning the band’s careerListen on the App

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How to Listen

From November 22 through November 24, tune in to Pearl Jam Radio in cars and on the SiriusXM app to hear archival band commentary about “Vitalogy,” concerts from the era, vinyl playbacks, fan content, and more.

‘Vitalogy’ Fan Content on Pearl Jam Radio

Want to join the celebration on air? From now until November 20, fans should email PJRadio@SiriusXM.com stating their name and memories of the album or what they love about their favorite songs.

‘Vitalogy’ Tracklist

1. Last Exit

2. Spin The Black Circle

3. Not For You

4. Tremor Christ

5. Nothingman

6. Whipping

7. Pry, To

8. Corduroy

9. Bugs

10. Satan’s Bed

11. Better Man

12. Aye Davanita

13. Immortality

14. Hey Foxymophandlemama, That’s Me

The post...

It’s back for round 3. YouTuber Phil Dickens aka AKblackandred and Will Penkeyman of Resident Evil Central have announced the 2024 edition of The Horror Game Awards will take place on Saturday, December 14 at 4pm Et, and will once again stream on The Horror Game Awards YouTube channel.

The aim of The Horror Game Awards is simple: to celebrate horror as one of the best genres in video games, and to recognise the year’s greatest horror games alongside the developers who make them. Winners of their respective category will receive a coveted claw trophy complete with bloody embellishments.

There are 16 categories this year, with five new additions. Presenters of the awards are content creators and industry professionals, such as the voice of the Resident Evil 4 remake’s Leon Kennedy, Nick Apostolides, and creator of both Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol, Glen Schofield. The full roster includes senior game writer & narrative designer Anna C.

Starfield is getting a whole new Dlc called the Shattered Space. The Dlc can be played from the very beginning as well as with a pre-existing save file. This is the game’s first Dlc extension post-release.

Shattered Space is here to breathe fresh air into the game. Image Credit: Bethesda

If you are waiting to start the game upon the Dlc’s release, maybe you should reconsider. Shattered Space might not be perfect for some of the new and low-level players out there. It is a challenging space that requires some prior experience of the game.

Tim Lamb’s Advice On Starfield‘s Shattered Space Brace yourselves for the latest addition to the world of Starfield. Image Credit: Bethesda

Shattered Space will be releasing on September 30. The Dlc offers a huge map extension with over 50 locations, along with many more enemies added to the game.

It has been a...

Summer Game Fest is finally here, and with it, the horror studio Blumhouse has announced a slew of exciting horror video game projects in development.

Blumhouse, the studio behind horror hits like M3GAN, Five Nights at Freddy's, and Happy Death Day, announced its plans to launch a video game division last year, and now we finally have an update on what to expect.

The company is partnering with independent developers in an effort to bring original stories to life for multiple platforms, such as mobile apps, consoles, and PCs. Blumhouse announced six games in development during Summer Game Fest 2024, and we have the scoop on them right here!

Fear the Spotlight

Blumhouse's first horror game is the atmospheric third-person survival game Fear the Spotlight, developed by Cozy Game Pals. Described as a love letter to classic '90s teen horror films, Fear the Spotlight follows teens Amy and Vivian as...

A year after their formation, Blumhouse Games has shown off their first slate of games at Summer Game Fest, partnering with independent development teams around the world to create a variety of titles across consoles, PC, and mobile. The games span a variety of genres, each with their own distinctive and terrifying take on the world of horror, with the first title coming later this year!

First up is Fear the Spotlight from Cozy Game Pals. Due out later this year, the game is described as “a creepy love letter to classic 90s teen horror stories.” Designed for a modern audience, the game centres around Vivian and Amy, who sneak into a school after hours, survive a seance gone wrong, solve tactile puzzles and uncover the disturbing mystery behind a school tragedy decades before. And whatever you do, stay out of the spotlight.

Crisol: Theater of Idols from Vermila sees...

Gil Grissom's exit posed a challenge for CSI's producers in finding a suitable replacement. Catherine Willows, Dr. Ray Langston, and D.B. Russell were all attempted replacements for Grissom. Petersen's iconic portrayal made finding a replacement for him challenging.

William Petersen as Gil Grissom was the face of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for several seasons until his exit from the series, and CBS tried to replace Grissom numerous times until the show ended in 2015. The procedural forensics crime drama television series, created by Anthony E. Zuiker, ran for 15 seasons after its premiere in October 2000, and its cultural impact is significant and undeniable. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was the beginning of a franchise, including multiple spin-offs. But the original show is undoubtedly the franchise at its greatest.

Grissom was the graveyard shift CSI supervisor at the Las Vegas lab in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, meaning he was the boss (and the...

After kicking off their pre-sales campaign last week for the upcoming TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming documentary, CreatorVC is bolstering the roster of participants for the five-part series. They’ve announced that in addition to the 35 participants (which you can check out from the official TerrorBytes website), an additional three personalities have been added: Denis Dyack, Sam Barlow, and Yoshiro Kimura.

For those who need a refresher, Denis Dyack is the director of the 2002 Lovecraftian GameCube horror title Eternal Darkness, along with being the director of the first entry in the Legacy of Kain series, 1996’s Blood Omen. Sam Barlow is the director of Immortality and Her Story (and currently working on two new projects), as well as a writer on Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Lastly, Yoshiro Kimura is mind behind the cult PlayStation 2 favorite Rule of Rose, and the executive producer of Grasshopper Manufacture...

Fans of Half Mermaid and Sam Barlow’s point-and-click horror adventure game Immortality (which Aaron reviewed here) will be happy to know that the developers are working on two projects, which are referred to for the moment as Project C and Project D. That being said, Half Mermaid has launched Steam pages for the two respective games, but are playing it coy with blacking out a lot of the info.

Project C is referred to as being a new cinematic title, which according to the description will have something special “for the first time ever” in a video game. Looking at the tags (if they’re to be believed), the game will be a psychological horror cyberpunk title that utilizes full-motion video. Meanwhile, Project D is a Survival Horror title that takes place in 1983, and involves a nurse. The tags for Project D have it as a cinematic Metroidvania with a female protagonist.

The Isle Tide Hotel is an interactive full-motion video mystery game with influences from branching RPGs and directors like Wes Anderson. The game has a strong sense of aesthetic and direction, drawing inspiration from various sources like Hitchcock and Knives Out. While the game lacks complexity in some areas and could offer more choices and depth, it still provides an engaging experience with intriguing secrets and solid acting.

The Isle Tide Hotel is an interactive and ambitious full-motion video mystery game that takes influence from branching RPGs and directors like Wes Anderson. The title comes from developer Wales Interactive, which has a long history fo Fmv titles like Late Shift and Ten Dates, and Interflix Media, an entertainment company specializing in interactive media experiences. The Isle Tide Hotel presents some big ideas and has a strong sense of aesthetic and direction that makes it interesting to explore, but some of...

Nominees in the categories of discovery of the year, public choice award and the new game music award have been revealed.

Film Fest Gent and The World Soundtrack Academy has unveiled the second and final wave of nominations for the 2023 World Soundtrack Awards, which will take place on October 21 at the Film Fest Gent in Belgium, with Golda, Avatar: The Way Of Water and The Menu among the additional titles represented.

Nominations for discovery of the year, public choice award, Wsa game music award, best original score for a Belgian production and the Sabam Award for best original composition by...

God of War Ragnorok made good on its record-breaking haul of BAFTA Games Awards nominations by emerging with the largest number of gongs from the 2023 ceremony.

Held on Thursday night in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank (and livestreamed on Twitch), the event — hosted by Julia Hardy and Inel Tomlinson — saw Sony’s bloody battle into Norse mythology win six awards, including performance honors for Christopher Judge and Laya DeLeon Hayes and Game of the Year, the only award voted for by the public. The game — the sequel to 2019’s God of War (itself a BAFTA Game of the Year winner) — had gone into the night with 14 nominations.

However, in something of a major shock, indie shooter Vampire Survivors — a title largely solely developed by Luca Galante — landed the top best game prize.

Meanwhile Elden Ring and Tunic won two BAFTAs each, as did Vampire Survivors thanks to...

A bloody battle into Norse mythology and a cat’s adventure through a cyberpunk world are the two most nominated games for this year’s BAFTA Games Awards.

Announced Thursday, Sony’s God of War Ragnarök — the sequel to God of War, which won the top BAFTA Game of the Year award in 2019 — leads the race, with 14 nominations, making it the most-nominated game since the awards began in 2004.

Meanwhile, Stray — following a stray cat trying to escape from a walled city and published by Annapurna — earned eight nominations, followed by seven nominations for role-playing fantasy adventure Elden Ring.

A Plague Tale: Requiem, Horizon Forbidden West, Immortality, Tunic and Vampire Survivors all have five nominations. Citizen Sleeper has four.

The shortlist for the Game of Year award, voted for by the public, is Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, Immortality, Marvel Snap and Stray.

“Congratulations to all our nominees,...

Pearl Jam are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 1998 album Yield with a couple of new gems for fans of the record, including a 2xLP collaboration with Vinyl Me, Please and a live album from the era.

The band’s latest releases come in two categories: Stuff for the audiophiles, and stuff for the collectors. The vinyl reissue, of course, fits into the first category. Available on translucent red and black vinyl, the Yield reissue will mark the opening of Vinyl Me, Please’s new audiophile-grade pressing plant in Denver. Pre-orders are ongoing. Additionally, available now on streaming services is a new spatial audio mix of the album, produced and mixed by Josh Evans and Nick Rives.

For those more interested in rarities, Pearl Jam are finally pressing Give Way, a live concert from the Yield era, to vinyl and CD for the first time. The album comes from a Melbourne Park,...

Wednesday night at the 2023 Scl Awards (Society of Composers & Lyricists), Michael Abels won the award for top studio film score for his work on “Nope,” while Ryan Lott and his experimental band Son Lux earned the statuette for Outstanding Independent Film Score for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The 4th annual gala took place at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Read on for all of the 2023 Scl Awards winners.

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro was a champion along with Alexandre Desplat and Roeban Katz in the Outstanding Song for a Musical or Comedy category for the tune “Ciao Papa” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.” Also scoring a victory in a song category was the legendary Diane Warren, who became the first songwriter to receive an honorary Oscar in December. She accepted her award in Outstanding Song for a Drama or Documentary for “Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman.

Diane Warren and Everything Everywhere All at Once composer Son Lux were among the Oscar nominees who won at the 2023 Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards on Wednesday night.

Warren won best original song for a drama or documentary for “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman, which is also nominated for best original song at the 2023 Oscars. Son Lux’s Ryan Lott accepted the award for best score for an independent film for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Son Lux is nominated for the Oscar for best original score and Lott is a nominee for best original song for his work on “This Is a Life,” both from Everything Everywhere All at Once.

In the category of best original score for interactive media, Stephanie Economou won for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök, just 10 days after her Grammy win.

Guillermo del Toro and lyricist Roeban Katz won best song...

The Society of Composers & Lyricists (Scl) presented the winners of the 4th Annual Scl Awards for score and songs in visual media tonight at the Skirball Cultural Center.

The evening was hosted by Darren Criss, who also gave the audience a musical performance. Awards were presented across seven categories for music in visual media in addition to the Spirit of Collaboration Award and two Jury Awards.

The Spirit of Collaboration Award was presented to Oscar-winning composer Justin Hurwitz and Oscar-winning filmmaker Damien Chazelle. The composer and filmmaker have collaborated on five films, including Babylon, La La Land, Whiplash, the First Man, and Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. The presentation of the award was accompanied by a musical performance including “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from La La Land, the First Man theme for harp and theremin, and a Babylon Medley, including “Voodoo Mama” and “Herman’s Hustle.

Point-and-click mystery game The Excavation of Hob's Barrow tells a short but complex tale that's wonderfully voice acted, with a narrative that manages to still take some shocking turns in its somewhat brief runtime. Hob's Barrow comes from developer Cloak and Dagger Games, which specializes in point-and-clicks, and publisher Wadjet Eye Games, which has previously been a part of titles like Old Skies and Primordia. The game is a brilliant blend of folklore and cosmic horror that's only bogged down by a few fetch quests that feel more drawn out than they need to be.

One of the first things that stands out about The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is its unnerving ambiance. Similar to other great video games like Immortality, Hob's Barrow excels in having generally unsettling overtones that players can't quite place their finger on at first. When protagonist Thomasina Bateman first arrives in the small town of Bewlay,...

Before listening to this week’s discussion on Immortality, please check out last week’s conversation on Scanner Sombre, Lidar.Exe, and Gamescom 2022!

At 30, I tend to think I have experienced a great deal of what games have to offer. Not to place a cap on the medium’s potential or to say there’s a drought of quality titles, yet I often find I more or less know what I’m getting myself into before sitting down to play a new title.

And that’s fine. I still enjoy all manner of games across all genres, but a game these days rarely makes me reexamine the potential of storytelling in games.

[Immortality Enters From Stage Left]

Then there’s Immortality, which challenged my perception of the possibilities of storytelling in games, doing so in the most precise and intriguing ways. Half Mermaid and creative director and writer Sam Barlow build upon the Fmv frameworks...

Katharina Kastner's Villa Empain, which is receiving an exclusive global online premiere on Mubi, is showing in Mubi's Brief Encounters series.When I first entered Villa Empain, a museum of contemporary art in Brussels, I had a particular sensation, as if I witnessed a folding of times, as if the house would communicate its elusive inner life to me. The feeling grew stronger as I stepped into a room with an installation of Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, who had re-invoked the bedroom of the Villa’s creator, Louis Empain. There was an almost tangible intimacy, which I had never before felt in a public space. As I started to learn about the life of Louis Empain, who built the house at only 22 years of age in 1934, I was truly touched—for one, how this very young man was even capable of creating such a marvelous blend of two distinct architectural styles,...

The many clones Tatiana Maslany played on Orphan Black banded together to fight Neolution, and this was when it mainly was a belief for people who’d undergone technological enhancements, like tails. The Immortality or Bust trailer follows the man who invented volcano surfing as he rides a transhuman wave to Washington.

On The Six Million Dollar Man, Lee Major’s astronaut Steve Austin was rebuilt into the world’s first bionic man. Government scientists made him “better, stronger and faster” through biotechnical enhancements. The man at the center of Immortality or Bust wants to take that one step further. “Do you want to live forever and become a cyborg,” asks the official website. “In the last Presidential election, one man embarked on an impossible expedition to defeat aging and forever change the human being through science. Running for President as the Transhumanist Party nominee, Zoltan Istvan took his message to bio hacking labs,...

Sunday marks Bono’s 60th birthday, and to celebrate the U2 singer has unveiled his “60 Songs That Saved My Life” playlist.

“These are some of the songs that saved my life,’ Bono wrote of the playlist. “The ones I couldn’t have lived without… the ones that got me from there to here, zero to 60… through all the scrapes, all manner of nuisance, from the serious to the silly… and the joy, mostly joy.'”

Bono also penned a “fan letter” of gratitude to each of the artists included on his playlist,...

They wanted to call it “Life,” and by the time Pearl Jam began recording their third album, their lives seemed pretty charmed. Despite ignoring nearly every dictate of the music business, they had sold millions of copies of Ten and Vs. Creatively, Pearl Jam were on such fire that they began cutting their follow-up to Vs. while they were still on the road to promote it. “It’s kind of amazing when you look back,” bassist Jeff Ament told Cameron Crowe later, “but we really didn’t have more than...

Hailee Steinfeld’s Emily Dickinson makes a promise to have one killer legacy in the latest trailer for Dickinson, premiering November 1st on Apple TV+ — the same day the new streaming platform launches.

The new “Immortality” trailer features more dream imagery than previous teasers for the show, and peppers in more hints at the budding romance between Dickinson and Sue Gilbert, portrayed by Ella Hunt. We also get a glimpse of Wiz Khalifa’s role as Death — yes, Death — who tells Emily that she will be “the only Dickinson they talk about in 200 years.

Tiff’s Midnight Madness program turned 25 this year, and for two and half decades, the hardworking programers have gathered some of the strangest, most terrifying, wild, intriguing and downright entertaining films from around the world. From dark comedies to Japanese gore-fests and indie horror gems, the Midnight Madness program hasn’t lost its edge as one the leading showcases of genre cinema. In its 25-year history, Midnight Madness has introduced adventurous late-night moviegoers to such cult faves as Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. But what separates Midnight Madness from, say, Montreal’s three and half week long genre festival Fantasia, is that Tiff selects only ten films to make the cut. In other words, these programmers don’t mess around. Last week I decided that I would post reviews of my personal favourite films that screened in past years. And just like the Tiff programmers,...

How seriously do you think I take Halloween? Well, I’m fairly frickin’ anal retentive anyway, so I need to book my viewing in advance. I mean I’ll deviate from my itinerary, but I at least need a plan. I can’t be the only one out there with a stick up his ass. So this October/Halloween Season I figured we needed a little guidance. There’s too many damn channels on the cable box, no horror hosts and shit for advertising. So let me be your TV Guide… Keeper.

We won’t touch on everything and I’m sure new programming will come up as October gets itself moving. I’ll throw an update out there from time to time if a special is airing or a new programming line up is discovered, uncovered, revealed or undead. Yes, this is for cable or dish. Network TV will...

A few days ago we learned that Twilight Saga: Eclipse and 30 Days Of Night director David Slade had signed on to helm the adaptation of Bram Stoker’s The Last Voyage Of The Demeter. Ben Kingsley and Noomi Rapace have been attached to play in the film, but now there is word that another big-named actor is about to join the cast. According to Bloody Cool Jude Law is interested in playing a role, and not just any role, the lead role…

No we’re not sure what that means. It could be someone on the ship, like the captain or one of the crew, or maybe he could be play ol’ Vlad the Impaler. Either way, we’re definitely excited to hear this news. Law is a tremendous actor and could certainly bring a lot to the film, regardless of who he ends up playing. I think it’d...