The reveal of Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds was a highlight of the The Game Awards 2018. The studio has built up a solid reputation over the years for crafting creative and engrossing narrative-heavy RPGs, and if nothing else, The Outer Worlds shows many signs of being directly inspired by recent entries in the Fallout series, one of which--New Vegas--was developed by Obsidian less than a decade ago. The Outer Worlds is also the brainchild of Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, two creatives with a storied history in PC gaming. Their most notable chapter by far? When they and a small band of collaborators created the original Fallout in the mid '90s. But after following up with Fallout 2, they've had to watch while Bethesda took the series in its own direction--despite being at Obsidian now, neither Cain nor Boyarsky were working there at the time of New Vegas' development.
We recently published a deeper dive into The Outer Worlds that speaks to a behind-closed-doors demo, covering aspects of the game's story, character progression, and combat. In the interview below, we get into the mindset of the two co-directors. It's obvious from the start that they have Fallout on the brain, lending credence to the suspicion that The Outer Worlds bears some striking similarities.
On the other hand, it also veers away from the grime and dirt of a post-apocalyptic Earth in favor a world with vitality. For as much as they are exploring ideas that likely, in some fashion, link back to their days making Fallout, Cain and Boyarsky are most excited about heading into uncharted territory.
Continue reading to hear their thoughts on reuniting after years and games apart, and where they hope to take their audience when The Outer Worlds releases on PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2019.
What was the feeling in your gut leading up to this reveal?
Tim Cain: We just really wanted to show it. We have all these things that are funny or cool, but we couldn't talk about it.
Leonard Boyarsky: We are very happy with where it's at. We think it looks great, we think it plays great. It's what we wanted to make when we started it, but at the same time you never know how people are going to react. To be able to finally show it and see how people react is cathartic.
I think I've seen you [Boyarsky] quoted online as saying this is a "dream project." What aspect of this, would you say, is the dream?
Leonard Boyarsky
Boyarsky: Oh, it's definitely working with Tim! [laughter] No, but it is though; that is exactly what I meant. I worked on a couple games before Fallout, and Tim worked on a couple games before Fallout, but that was pretty much our start of working on games that we have creative control over. We created Fallout from scratch, we basically had complete creative control and did whatever we wanted to--same thing with Arcanum. It had been a really long time since we created an IP from scratch. We're really good friends, we complement each other's strengths and weaknesses really well. Not many people are fortunate enough to find that kind of person to work with in their careers, and we were lucky that it was very early in our careers and we have this really great synergy when we get together and start doing this stuff.
We've never really made a pure sci-fi game. Fallout was sci-fi, but it was more post-apocalyptic than sci-fi. So it was one of these things where we're really big fans of science fiction; I personally love fantasy, but I much prefer science fiction if I have to choose between them. So it was weird that we'd never gotten around to do one, and when this opportunity came up it was like, "Yes, I can work with Tim again and we can create an IP from scratch!" It was basically this laundry list of things that I thought...that the next game I wanted to work on would be if I could say "here's the stuff I want to do," and this was it.
If you can really put yourself back in your own shoes in the '90s, compared to today, what aspect of your current responsibilities do you love, and what do you miss from those times that you worked in an attic, and…
Boyarsky: Well for me I still love the things I loved then, creating a world from scratch, it's just the best part about this. I love creating unique worlds with a unique feel and a unique look. The thing I do have to say I miss is that when we made Fallout and Arcanum, it was a very small team. We got to do all the stuff we're doing now but we also got to do…Tim did programming, I did design, like a lot of art on Fallout. I was the lead artist and the art director, and I was also doing like havlf the animations in the game, modelling stuff, texture mapping. I didn't end up scripting on that one, but I scripted in Arcanum. Working on those small teams you end up having your hand in everything.
For [The Outer Worlds] we are much more directors. It's our vision, but we have a lot of very talented and wonderful people that we're working with who have done things that, especially from an art standpoint, I don't know that I would have brought it in that direction, but in a good way. We pointed them in a direction and they ran in directions that we never could have anticipated. In a way that's very rewarding because you feel like you gave people a germ of an idea and they got to make it their own and it comes back to you and you see what people have done. But on the other hand, I'm not in there doing that every day. I'm making sure people are heading to the right destination and fulfilling our vision of the game. I've been able to do some writing, some hands-on art direction, but for the most part a lot of people are doing the actual nuts-and-bolts work that we used to do on a day-to-day basis.
Tim Cain
Cain: Plus, one thing, in the '90s you could do things no one had ever done before because everything was so young and it was a bit of a Wild West of an industry. Now every time you think of something and you look, it's like, "Oh, this game did it. This indie game did it five years ago." It's hard to think of something that is completely original.
We managed to put some things in here that I've never seen done in a game. In that way, I kinda miss that…the sky was the limit back then. If you could think about it, you could do it.
Boyarsky: Well a perfect example of that is, when we made Arcanum, I didn't even really know what steampunk was. Now there is like every kind of punk there is. When we started talking about this game and the setting we had to be very careful not to fall into this pre-defined thing that has been done before. That's very important to us. We didn't want people to look at it and know exactly what this is, because people didn't do that with Fallout because nobody had seen something like that before. Between now and then, there's been every kind of mish mash of different styles. I mean, hopefully people took inspiration for Fallout for some of that stuff.
Cain: We didn't want to make Tolkien with machine guns. One thing I've done, every time I ship a game I write a postmortem, just for myself; it doesn't get published. I write a postmortem of everything I think went right and wrong, and I also keep notes whenever I have an idea. So I went through them for this game and found some ideas from a few years ago that I'd like to try out. And here's what I thought went wrong with Temple, or Vampire, or Fallout.
I even write, I probably shouldn't, but every time I play a Fallout game I write a postmortem for it. I have a postmortem for Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and New Vegas, even though I didn't work on them. So I read through all those notes, to recall what I thought they did right and what I thought they did wrong. And that influenced a lot of what I'm doing with this game.
How often, if ever, do industry trends or audience demands seep into your priorities?
Boyarsky: A lot less than we probably should. [laughter] We've always been really interested in making the games that we don't think are out there. Maybe there's a good reason why some of them aren't out there.
Cain: We always like to joke, "Let's just make the games we like, and hopefully people will play them." We have been trying to understand what people have been asking for. I know when we put our combat system together, it was really important that it be an RPG, but people really want…
Boyarsky: Yeah but it's less of a thing where we go, "Look at what people are looking for." We really don't want people to be saying, "Wow, this is a great RPG, you know the combat is just okay, but the RPG stuff is great."
One of our goals is that we want combat to be fun. Obviously our combat isn't going to be as good as Call of Duty because that's not what we are here to do. So, in that aspect when we set out to do something like that, well then what would people think is a fun combat system? What do people want from a combat system that they would consider fun? I think we've been in that mode for years, but I'm not sure that we've ever focused on those things as much as we have with this one.
I think it's much more a matter of, I don't want to say age, but just the length of time doing this. Earlier on Tim was saying that when we set out to make this thing that's a conglomeration of '50s and Road Warrior and pulp sci-fi, that wasn't something that people had done before, or the aspect of it where it's very gray morality and you could play anyway you wanted to play. With those things, because as Tim said that was a time when it was the Wild West where nobody had done that stuff before, now we have to look at what hasn't been served. We don't want to just rehash old ground. That's how we look at what people might want or what needs to be done in other games. Sometimes it might even inform, I don't want to say negative, but it might reinforce the opposite.
Like, a lot of games are going towards cinematic storytelling, but to do that you have to have a voiced protagonist. One of our main goals here, as with all of the games we made together, we want people to be able to play this game any way they want to play. We want the person who wants to play as the upstanding, righteous hero who would never do anything a little bit gray to have fun and role-play the way they want to, as much as the person who wants to play the psychopath that wants to kill everyone in their way. Both of those should be fun. But if we picked a voice for you or a character for you that was premade, then no matter how much we let you tweak it, it still feels like there's a part of it that wasn't decided by me. I think it's both things: What do we think is really cool that hasn't been done, but what are things that people are doing? Do we want to take that, or do we want to keep it more old-school because this is what we get from it?
By Anonymous on Dec 08, 2018 09:30 pm Before the upcoming Aquaman movie starring Jason Momoa releases in theaters on December 21, learn all about the DC comics history of Arthur Curry!
By Anonymous on Dec 08, 2018 07:30 pm After five years of development, we sit down with Capy's Kris Piotrowski to play Below, right before its anticipated release on PC and Xbox One.
2018 was filled with some incredible movies, many of which we all knew were going to be gigantic hits, like Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther, but the year was also filled with movies we didn't anticipate as successful but blew us away like Annihilation or Searching. There are hundreds of movies that come out theatrically, and even more that are straight-to-video or for streaming services, each year, so it can be exceptionally hard to keep track to what you need to see in the upcoming year.
And 2019 will be no exception with plenty of huge movies hitting theaters. Most notably will be Marvel's Avengers 4: Endgame, the follow-up to Infinity War. Additionally, there is a live-action Pikachu movie coming in the late spring. Then, there are films that just have incredible talent behind them like Jordan Peele or Quentin Tarantino. There is a ton of movies to sift through, and it's even harder to figure out what is worth your time and hard-earned money.
Luckily, we've skimmed through all of 2019 to figure out what movies we cannot wait to see next year. We've narrowed it down to 27. Why 27? We don't know, but there's something on this list for everyone, and here are our most anticipated movies for next year, listed by their release dates.
Glass
Release date: January 19
A follow-up to both Unbreakable and Split, Glass follows David Dunn (Bruce Willis), Mr. Glass (Samuel Jackson), and Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy) from M. Night Shyamalan's previous movies. Mr. Glass teams up with Crumb's various personalities, including The Beast, to pit him against Dunn. The first trailer is exceptional, as Shyamalan has quickly crafted the start of a great superhero-esque universe.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Release Date: February 8
Is everything still awesome in the world of Lego? A follow-up to the 2014 smash hit, Chris Pratt returns as Emmett and plays Rex Dangervest--which is all of Pratt's movie roles rolled into one--and the two venture into space to save all of Emmett's friends. It looks imaginative and as fun as the original.
Happy Death Day 2U
Release Date: February 14
The 2017 horror click Happy Death Day was a nice twist on the "everyday keeps repeating" movie formula. The Valentine's Day sequel continues to follow Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) two years after the events of the first film. She finds herself returning to the same time loop--with one deadly difference--and has to figure out how to escape it. If it's anything like the first movie, it will be a blast.
Captain Marvel
Release Date: March 8
Marvel's first big release of the year is Captain Marvel, which we already know a ton about. Brie Larson will play Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel, one of the universe's most powerful heroes, who finds herself in the midst of an intergalactic war between alien races. It's a Marvel movie, so there's like a 99% chance it will be amazing.
Us
Release Date: March 19
Did you love Get Out? Well, you'll probably want to see Us. Directed and written by Jordan Peele, the horror movie stars Lupita Nyong'o, and that's all anyone knows about it.
Shazam!
Release Date: April 6
Maybe DC has finally started to turn it around because the first trailer for Shazam was awesome. Billy Batson (Asher Angel) gets magical powers which turns him into the superhero Shazam (Zachary Levi). This is DC's first movie that truly embraces the comedic element of its characters, which it truly needs. And how awesome is it that we're getting two Captain Marvel movies in one year?
Pet Semetary
Release Date: April 6
There's been a revival for Stephen King's work the past few years, and Pet Semetary is the next one on the docket for 2019. In the upcoming movie, a family moves to a rural town where there's a local legend that a pet cemetary in the woods can bring the dead back to life. The family's cat gets killed and buried in the cemetery, and the family quickly realizes that burying it there was a mistake. We've seen one trailer so far, and it looks exceptionally creepy.
Hellboy
Release Date: April 12
Almost 15 years ago, Mike Mignola's mythological Dark Horse comic book series, Hellboy, made its first big-screen appearance. In 2019, it will be getting a remake and David Harbour (Stranger Things) will play big red. In the reboot, Hellboy takes on Nimue (Milla Jovovich), a sorceress who wants to end the world` in the new adaptation. The movie will heavily draw from the Hellboy comic "The Wild Hunt," which is a brilliant story from 2009, and one that comic fans have been dying to see on the big screen.
Avengers: Endgame
Release Date: April 26, 2019
In 2018, Marvel shocked the world with the finale of Avengers: Infinity War, the third installment in the Avengers franchise. We now know the final movie is titled Avengers: Endgame. The first teaser gives us a hint of what to expect when it hits theaters next year in April.
Detective Pikachu
Release Date: May 10
There have been plenty of Pokemon movies, all of which only really appeal to fans of the gaming series. However, May's Detective Pikachu is just weird enough to have a broader appeal, especially after seeing the fantastic first trailer. Ryan Reynolds plays the titular character, who befriends Tim Goodman (Justice Smith)--a human who can understand the little yellow Pokemon. Tim is looking for his father, a detective, and Pikachu wants to help. This movie looks like an incredible amount of fun and a perfect way to get people that aren't as experienced with Pokemon to watch a movie about the pocket monsters.
John Wick 3: Parabellum
Release Date: May 17
Following the events of Chapter 2, which had Wick killing someone inside The Continental, the third movie in the series has the former hitman on the run for his life, as there is $14 million contract on his head. Wick is trying to escape from New York, and as you've seen in one official image, he's doing it on a horse. That's awesome, and we cannot wait to see what insane action sequences are planned for the next movie.
Aladdin
Release Date: May 24
Disney has been revamping many of its classic animated movies into live-action remakes--of sorts. The second one of these to come out in 2019 is Aladdin--with Dumbo coming in March. Thus far, there has only been a teaser for the movie, since it's more than 6 months away, but Disney's track record, as of late, has been very good for its movies, especially the remakes.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Release Date: May 31
2018's San Diego Comic-Con revealed plenty of trailers for upcoming movies, many of which are coming out in 2019, but the one that get everyone talking was Godzilla: King of the Monsters. There are going to be plenty of giant monsters in this one, and a massive amount of action. It doesn't even matter what the story is about because it's all about destruction, chaos, and classic Japanese monsters beating each other up.
Dark Phoenix
Release Date: June 7
The day after the first trailer hit the internet, Dark Phoenix was pushed back from its February release date to June. Normally, that's not a great sign, but with Disney's buyout of Fox, things had to be shuffled around. We caught a glimpse at some exclusive footage at New York Comic-Con, and what we saw looked great. Forgetting X-Men: The Last Stand exists, we'll get to see the story of Jean Grey's transformation into the Dark Phoenix in this film, and it's going to tear the X-Men apart.
MIB
Release Date: June 14
We're getting a new Men in Black movie, and it's not a reboot. Hooray! The movie will actually be a spinoff following a new team of agents in London. F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton, The Fate of the Furious) will direct and MIB will star Tessa Thompson, Chris Hemsworth, and Emma Thompson as the agents. Not much else is known about the film aside from that.
Toy Story 4
Release Date: June 21
So far, there has been a couple teasers for Toy Story 4, but it didn't give us much, aside from briefly introducing us to the new characters, like Forky (Tony Hale). However, it's Pixar, which usually has a good track record. Additionally, all the Toy Story movies are amazing and somehow, the sequels keep getting better and better.
Untitled Annabelle Film
Release Date: July 3
The currently untitled third Annabelle movie comes to theaters right before Independence Day in the US. Gary Dauberman, who wrote the previous two movies as well as The Nun, will make his directorial debut for this one. That's currently all we know, but thus far, all the Conjuring universe movies have been a ton of fun.
At this time, there has not been a movie poster or official images for the movie released.
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Release Date: July 5
The final MCU movie of the year is the Spider-Man sequel. Jon Watts returns to direct, and the movie takes place after the events of Avengers 4. According to some reports floating around on the internet, the movie follows Peter Parker and his friends who are on a trip to Europe, where Parker has to suit up as Spider-Man to fight Mysterio. If it's anything like the previous movie, it's going to be amazing.
The Lion King
Release Date: July 19
It may be filled with a lot of CG, but the first trailer for the live-action The Lion King looked so realistic. The trailer is so beloved that it passed over 200 million views on YouTube in its first 24 hours. Much like Disney's Beauty and the Beast remake, The Lion King will more than likely be the same, almost shot-for-shot, but that won't matter if the movie is as good as that first video from Disney. This will more than likely be Disney's biggest hit of the year, right behind--or alongside--Toy Story 4.
Once Upon a Time In Hollywood
Release Date: July 26
Quentin Tarantino's next film hits theaters mid-summer. His newest movie takes place during the late-1960s, during the era of the Manson murders. And it follows a TV actor and stuntman who are trying to make it big in the film industry. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, and Brad Pitt. Of course, if you're a fan of Tarantino's work, this is a must-watch.
Hobbs & Shaw
Release Date: August 2
Spinning out of the Fast and the Furious franchise, this new movie follows the titular Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Shaw (Jason Statham), former foes who are now obviously best friends. A synopsis for the 2019 film has not been released, but it's another addition to the Fast & Furious franchise, and it's being directed by David Leitch (John Wick, Deadpool 2). That's more than enough reason to be pumped for it.
It: Chapter Two
Release Date: September 6
2017's It took the world by storm, bringing it over $700 million at the box office, which is a huge feat for a rated-R horror movie. While there won't be a trailer for the movie for quite some time, it takes place 27 years after the first film, when the members of the Losers Club have to head back to Derry to take on Pennywise one more time. The first movie was so incredibly good, and everyone who saw it has been salivating for the next chapter.
Joker
Release Date: October 4
The first of numerous planned Joker movies hits theaters in October. No, this isn't the Jared Leto Joker we've seen in Suicide Squad. This will be an origin movie--of sorts--for a version of the Clown Prince of Crime played by Joaquin Phoenix and probably won't take place within the DC cinematic universe. We've seen what Phoenix will look like in the movie, but it's still in production, so details about the project are sparse. DC doesn't have the best track record, but we have a feeling Todd Phillips is going to bring something special to this movie.
Sonic: The Hedgehog
Release Dates: November 8
You know it's going to be a wild year when Sonic is getting a live-action movie. The plot is a bit crazy though. James Marsden plays a police officer from South Dakota who teams up with Sonic on a trip to San Francisco to--wait for it--collect rings. While they're on this adventure, Robotnik is trying to stop them. This may be just weird enough to work.
At this time, there has not been a movie poster or official images for the movie released.
Kingsman 3
Release Date: November 8
Although the movie won't start filming until January, there is a third Kingsman movie coming out in late 2019; however, Taron Egerton will not be reprising his role as Eggsy. Thankfully, it won't be the last time we see that character. The next installment is a prequel that takes place during World War 1, following a character named Conrad. It could be a nice change of pace for the franchise, giving viewers more insight into what the Kingsman were early in the 20th century.
At this time, there has not been a movie poster or official images for the movie released.
Jumanji 3
Release Date: December 13
Director Jake Kasdan returns for the next installment of the series, and according to Dwayne Johnson--who will reprise his role from Welcome to the Jungle--Karen Gillan, Jack Black, and Nick Jonas will return to the sequel. Johnson also jokingly said Kevin Hart's character will die right away. Considering how much fun Welcome to the Jungle was, the next installment has us really excited, even when there are no details.
At this time, there has not been a movie poster or official images for the movie released.
Star Wars: Episode IX
Release Date: December 20
We've seen a few shots from the set of the next Star Wars movie and heard a few casting rumors, like Matt Smith will be playing a role, but it's been relatively quiet as to what the movie will be about. It's supposed to conclude this trilogy, and director JJ Abrams was vocal about taking the film in a new direction, even before Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi hit theaters. Even if the last Star Wars movie wasn't your cup of tea, it seems like Abrams has big plans, and that has us excited.
At this time, there has not been a movie poster or official images for the movie released.
By Anonymous on Dec 08, 2018 07:15 am In this day and age, multiplayer games constantly change and become much different over time. Here are the five best that captured our attention in 2018.
By Anonymous on Dec 08, 2018 07:09 am Hades is the isometric roguelike action RPG from Supergiant Games (Bastion, Transistor, Pyre) currently in early access. It incorporates run-based gameplay with a deeper story around Greek mythology.
By Anonymous on Dec 08, 2018 06:50 am From Captain Marvel to Spider-Man: Far From Home to Star Wars Episode IX, here are the 20 biggest movies to look forward to in 2019!
These were the best anime shows and movies of 2018. What were your favorites?
This year has seen Netflix purchasing and releasing original anime to their streaming service, continuations of fantastic anime series we've seen before, and some exciting and brand new properties. Whether you're joining alongside Midoriya as he trains to become the greatest hero of all time, witnessing the tedium of office work life which will make you want to scream, or have front row seats to a world of boxing, where people now wear mechanical gears to punch even harder; 2018 has been an incredible year in anime.
Shows like Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia have come back in style, with major reveals and character moments and both arguably being the best seasons of their respective shows to date. Even Sword Art Online has come back stronger than ever, ditching Kirito for a new protagonist and opening itself up for a new audience. If you're not a fan of sports, there's a certain charm to the way a sport is handled in anime, and Hanebado! could lead to you respecting badminton like never before, while Megalo Box will get you rooting for Gearless Joe and feeling every single punch. Of course, there are still plenty of new anime that were adapted from manga, like A Place Further Than The Universe, and that will make you wonder how many untouched gems are out there.
With so much amazing anime in 2018, it was difficult to limit our list. Check below for our choices for The Best Anime of 2018. When you've finished, let us know what we missed, and what anime you think should have made the cut, and let us know why! Then, check out some of our other end-of-year lists, such as the biggest anime to look forward to in 2019 or the biggest comics to read in 2019.
1. My Hero Academia: Season 3
After just three seasons, My Hero Academia has already become one of the greatest Shonen anime and manga of all time. The world of My Hero Academia is one where most of the population are now born with "quirks" giving them certain powers, which has turned many into heroes and others into villains. The show closely follows Izuku Midoriya, a quirkless boy whose dream is to be a great hero. He's given the opportunity thanks to the greatest hero of all time passing on his powers to Midoriya.
The third season of the show is its strongest yet, with Midoriya--who's still in the hero training academy UA--finally taking on true villains and being forced to make life or death decisions in order to save civilians. This season is filled with some of the largest events the show has seen so far, and the repercussions as a result. But, in the face of all of this, it's the characters who stand out the most, as UA is filled with students and teachers who are genuinely a pleasure to spend time with. My Hero Academia stands out not just as a great anime, but also one of the greatest superhero stories ever told. -- Dave Klein
2. Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler
Originally premiering in Japan in 2017, Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler didn't come to Netflix in the U.S. and other western countries until February 1, 2018. The wait was definitely worth it though, as Kakegurui is a delightfully tense look at what might happen to a school if a transfer student turned out to be a little bit of a psychopath.
The series takes place at Hyakkaou Private Academy, a high school for the wealthy elite that trains its students for the hardships of the outside world by forcing them to gamble. Winners get special privileges, while losers are called dogs or cats (depending on gender) and forced to act like animals. Ryōta is a loser, but his luck changes when Yumeko transfers into his class. Although she's beautiful and acts rather shy, Yumeko secretly has a maniacal appearance and passionate fascination with the thrill that comes with gambling. She's very intelligent too, even able to outhink her opponents in games of chance.
Yumeko takes a liking to Ryōta, and looks out for him in exchange for his knowledge in how the academy's rules work so she can abuse the system to challenge people she shouldn't. Kakegurui follows the duo's systematic destruction of the academy's traditions, all while Yumeko and the opponents she goes up against make some of the most horrific facial expressions ever seen in an anime. They're terrifying to look at, but also kind of fascinating. Good luck trying to look away. -- Jordan Ramee
3. B: The Beginning
B: The Beginning is one of a slew of original anime Netflix approved for 2018. This suspense anime contains a mixture of science fiction and fantasy elements, as well as some mystery. Our primary characters are detectives with individual quirks who are fun to watch interacting with each other as they expertly solve the case of a serial killer. And when the conflicts ramp up, the anime contains some excellently animated and exciting action segments--from car chases to fantastical duels--which further elevate this show. Netflix has renewed B: The Beginning for a 2nd season, and for good reason. -- Dave Klein
4. School Babysitters
In School Babysitters, high school first-year Ryūichi Kashima and his preschooler younger brother Kotarō become orphans and homeless when both of their parents die in a plane crash. However, the chairwoman of a nearby prestigious academy, who's son and daughter-in-law also died in the crash, adopts the boys and enrolls Ryūichi at her school. She only has one condition: during breaks, lunch-time, and after-school hours, Ryūichi must help out in the club that watches the children of the academy's teachers.
The story that follows may be one of the cutest anime series of 2018, as Ryūichi spends his days looking after his expressionless brother, the loud-mouthed Taka, twins Takuma and Kazuma, polite Kirin, and adorable Midori. School Babysitters loses its focus once, when it devotes an episode to the love rivalry between the tsundere Maria and kind-hearted Yuki for Ryūichi's affection--which isn't nearly as entertaining as the rest of the show. Other than that small hiccup though, the anime will leave you smiling ear to ear for most of its run-time. There are emotional moments too--such as Ryūichi trying to deal with the grief of losing his parents while staying strong for his brother--but this is primarily a feel-good series. -- Jordan Ramee
5. Zombie Land Saga
In 2008, everything is going well for Sakura Minamoto. She's about to start her second year of high school and begin pursuing her dream of becoming an idol singer...and then she's hit and killed by a passing truck. 10 years later, Sakura is resurrected as a zombie alongside six other girls from various Japanese eras, and the eccentric necromancer that brought them back to life wants the seven to become an idol group.
What follows is a bizarre mixture of tropes from both the idol anime and zombie horror genres. But it's hilarious to watch, especially for the initial episodes. Then the show starts diving into fairly serious backstories of each idol group member, and that's when Zombie Land Saga becomes really special. There's plenty of stereotypical stuff you'd expect from an idol show--like overcoming personal fears and learning to trust your friends--but there's a lot more too. Most notable is the show's eighth episode, which does a phenomenal job acknowledging transgender identities and accepting people for who they are.
Zombie Land Saga isn't for everyone, but people who haven't been a fan of idol anime in the past should give this series a chance. The group of girls do several performances that aren't idol pop, including death metal and a rap battle. -- Jordan Ramee
6. Attack on Titan: Season 3
While some may have fallen off of the Attack on Titan bandwagon after the slower-paced Season 2, Season 3 once again ramps up the pacing to a break-neck speed, with almost constant revelations as the show progresses. In a blog post, Attack on Titan creator Hajime Iseyama explained he was unsatisfied with the pacing of this portion of his manga, and requested that it be sped up for the animated version. This decision pays off in a big way, and what we find are major military and government secrets being revealed, more about the world outside and the way titans work, as well as a plethora of incredible battles for our viewing pleasure. -- Dave Klein
7. Megalo Box
In the futuristic setting of Megalo Box, the sport of boxing has evolved to incorporate a mechanical "gear" boxers equip to increase their power, defense, and punching speed. We follow Junk Dog, a down and out boxer who regularly throws fights in order to make money and help pay off his managers debt to the mob. Dreams of proving himself, and a chance encounter with Yuri--the current Megalo Box champion--lead to him applying for the prestigious Megalonia tournament--but with the gimmick that he'll fight gearless, with the new moniker "Gearless Joe."
While I wouldn't place Megalo Box on the same pedestal as the boxing manga/anime "Hajime no Ippo," it's a blast to watch Gearless Joe as he fights to work up the ranks with the constant threat of the mob on his and his managers' back if they lose. It's a true Rocky-style story, with an underdog working to climb his way to the top thanks to an unlikely chance he was given. -- Dave Klein
8. Aggretsuko
Based on a series of web shorts that introduced Sanrio's "Aggressive Retsuko" a few years ago, Aggretsuko's full length anime debut on Netflix was by no means a sure thing. Sure, the title character, a disgruntled but good-natured red panda who hates her job and doesn't know what to do about it, is adorable and relatable. But does the show's main gimmick--that mild-mannered Retsuko takes to karaoke bars by night to spew shrieking death metal--really have the legs to support a whole show?
The answer, it turns out, is hell yes. The incongruous blend of adorable, Hello Kitty-style anime and outrageous death metal is surprisingly endearing. And when it all comes together in episodes like the rap battle between Retsuko and her literal pig of a boss, you'll be glad Retsuko has an outlet for all that rage. -- Mike Rougeau
9. Devilman Crybaby
The original Devilman manga was created in the 1970s, has received multiple anime and video game adaptations since, and served to inspire other major series such as Berserk.
Devilman Crybaby on Netflix is its latest adaptation, which did a phenomenal job being true to the original work while modernizing its setting. The story focuses on the relationship between Ryo Asuka, who's discovered the existence of demons, and his best friend Akira Fudo, who uses the power of demons to transform into the titular Devilman. The show asks what would happen if evil were used to fight evil in graphic violent detail--all while telling a very personal story between two friends. It's also worth noting the artistic style of this adaptation, which is both unique and a breath of fresh air. -- Dave Klein
10. Laid-Back Camp
Laid-Back Camp is a wholesome slice-of-life anime about a group of girls who love camping. The story primarily follows Rin and Nadeshiko, two high school girls who meet one fateful night when Rin is out camping alone and Nadeshiko is stranded after falling asleep at the campsite without a way to get home.
The experience leaves an impression on Nadeshiko who decides to join her school's Outdoor Activities Club so that she can learn how to camp. From there the anime diverges, with some episodes focusing on the experienced camper Rin going out on solo outings, and others following the hilarious misadventures of Nadeshiko and her two new club mates, Chiaki and Aoi, which also act as makeshift camping tutorials for the audience. If you aren't interested in camping before watching Laid-Back Camp, you will be by the end of the 12-episode series.
Laid-Back Camp is beloved for its laugh-out-loud humor and easy-to-binge episodes, but the storyline of Rin and Nadeshiko is the selling point of the series. Most anime would have the flamboyant Nadeshiko forcing the quiet Rin out of her shell, and labeling such a transformation as a good thing. Laid-Back Camp doesn't do that, and instead tells an adorable story of two very different girls learning to trust each other and appreciate their differences without forcing anyone to do something they don't want to do. -- Jordan Ramee
11. A Place Further Than the Universe
A Place Further than the Universe is one of the first anime to air in 2018 and it's also one of the best television series of the year. The anime follows four high-school aged girls--Mari Tamaki, Shirase Kobuchizawa, Hinata Miyake, and Yuzuki Shiraishi--who decide to try and join a research expedition that's going to Antarctica.
Each girl has her own reasons for wanting to go. Mari wants to make the most of her youth after being too scared her whole life to ever try anything hard, Shirase wants to find her mother who went missing in Antarctica three years prior and is presumed dead, Hinata wants to do something adventurous before taking her college entrance exam, and Yuzuki is an actress who's never had friends and wants to go with the three after they go out of their way to befriend her.
A Place Further than the Universe packs a tremendous amount of well-written humor, drama, and character development into its 13 episodes, telling a bittersweet story about four girls struggling to overcome their shortcomings as they attempt to achieve an impossible goal together. The anime's soundtrack is also some of the best musical composition for the year. A Place Further than the Universe is just one of those shows that anyone of any age can enjoy, so if you haven't added this show to your Crunchyroll queue, you absolutely should. -- Jordan Ramee
12. Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online
Early in 2018, we saw Sword Art Online take a break from Kirito's adventures to instead focus on Llenn, the in-game avatar of Karen Kohiruimaki. Gun Gale Online takes place after the events of SAO, when VR is once again becoming popular as safeguards are put in place to stop anyone from being trapped inside a video game.
Karen is a shy university student who's very self-conscious about being much taller than the average Japanese person. Her best friend Miyu advises her to try VR in order to live as someone else, and Karen settles on the first-person shooter Gun Gale Online after the game assigns her a little girl avatar. Now going by Llenn, Karen shows a natural talent for FPS games and eventually finds herself starring in GGO's new battle royale mode as "The Pink Devil."
Most of the anime follows Llenn and her teammates' efforts to win in these battle royale matches, which span multiple episode arcs. GGO is a bit more lighthearted and has a more believable plotline than SAO, and it takes every chance it can to make fun of its predecessor for it. But at the heart of the show is a message of learning to love yourself, and how escaping into the fantasy of video games can empower the lives of both women and young girls. -- Jordan Ramee
13. Bloom Into You
If stories that focus on lesbian relationships are your thing, then you want to check out Bloom Into You. The same is true if you like analyzing art, as Bloom Into You uses cool POV shots and animation effects to create one of the prettiest series of the year.
Bloom Into You breaks a lot of the conventions of your typical yuri (genre that focuses on lesbian relationships) anime. The anime's main couple, Yuu and Touko, are both cute, but their relationship isn't the typical self-assured lesbian meets the shy girl who doubts her sexuality, something that's present in several other series within the genre. Touko, who acts confident, actually struggles to embody the image of what everyone expected her dead older sister to be. Yuu, who seems very shy, is quiet around people she likes because she has trouble experiencing feelings of love.
Yuu and Touko have an unusual relationship, but it's one that works for them. Bloom Into You addresses the struggles of growing up and trying to understand love, as well as disproving the myth that high school girls who like each other are just "going through a phase." The show is worth watching for that scene alone. -- Jordan Ramee
14. Hanebado!
There have been plenty of excellent sports anime in the past few years, and that trend continued in 2018 with Hanebado. If you normally watch anime promos, you probably caught a glimpse of this badminton series, which captured a lot of attention for the detail of the girls' animation as they play. You can feel the underlying power reverberating through the swings.
Hanebado follows numerous characters, but primarily focuses on Ayano Hanesaki. The daughter of a star badminton player, Ayano is gifted at the sport, but she's abandoned by her mother after Ayano loses an important match in a tournament. Years later, Ayano is recruited to join her high school team once the captain notices her talent.
In your typical sports anime, this is where the protagonist would have repeated positive experiences with her new teammates and learn to love the sport again. Hanebado is not your typical sports series. Instead, it's a show about the mental and emotional damage that a parent's overbearing actions can have on their child. Do not go into Hanebado anticipating a purely positive experience, but you should expect a well-written and beautifully animated series that dives right into the part of sports that most anime in the genre never even acknowledge. -- Jordan Ramee
15. Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku
Not all geeks get to do what they love for a living. That's the main story behind Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku, an anime that focuses on four adults trying to live their own version of normal.
There's Hirotaka, a hard-core gamer; Narumi, a fujoshi who's also a fan of otome games and idols; Hanako, a cosplayer who loves dressing up as handsome men, and Taro; a pretty normal dude who just enjoys dabbling in anime or manga every once in a while. All four are invested in their personal interests, but feel the need to hide who they are while working normal office jobs. Hirotaka is also dating Narumi while Hanako and Taro are together.
Wotakoi addresses the hardships in being an adult that loves anime or manga, things that most of the world still deems weird and childish, while also showing the two couples navigate their relationships. The mixture of cute and serious blends together fairly well, and anyone who's felt nervous or uncomfortable explaining their passion for video games or anime to a family member or friend who doesn't partake in said media will probably end up relating to at least one of the conflicts the four main characters go through. It's a good watch, and you'll probably end up dancing to the anime's opening with every episode. It's super catchy. -- Jordan Ramee
16. Planet With
Stick with me on this, cause Planet With is a hell of a ride to try and explain. That said, the anime is one of the best to come out in 2018 and absolutely worth adding to your queue if you're a fan of mecha, science fiction, and action.
Okay, so Planet With is the story about Sōya Kuroi, a high schooler with amnesia who lives with a giant purple cat-like creature, named Sensei and who Sōya can understand, and a perpetually happy maid, named Ginko. His normal life is suddenly interrupted when mysterious beasts descend onto Japan, only to be stopped by seven men and women who can transform into giant armored beasts. However, when Sōya realizes that he and the seven heroes aren't exactly on the same side, he ends up fighting them and getting dragged into an interstellar war that has come to Earth. And then things start getting strange.
Again, I know the show sounds bizarre--even by anime standards--but it's an incredibly well-written story that's full of pulse-pounding action scenes and witty writing. Planet With's greatest strength is in how it breaks the audience's expectations of what's going to happen. This series isn't afraid to subvert genre tropes, making for one of the most unique watches of 2018. It's wild, but in the best possible way. -- Jordan Ramee
These were the best individual episodes on TV in 2018. What were your favorites?
Here at GameSpot, choosing our top 10 favorite TV shows of 2018 was difficult enough. When it came time to narrow it down to our favorite individual episodes of the year, we knew we had even more work cut out for ourselves. Naturally, we couldn't leave it to just 10, which is how we got to the list you see before you.
This isn't limited to just the best shows of the year, either. In fact, some of the shows whose episodes we chose to highlight here were actually pretty inconsistent, like The Handmaid's Tale Season 2. But we felt that each one had a standout episode that was worth highlighting, regardless of the season's overall quality.
What were your favorite moments in TV throughout 2018? Let us know in the comments, and as always, check out more of our coverage of 2018 as a whole below.
At the midpoint of Robbin' Season, Atlanta's stellar sophomore outing, the series surprised many with an episode that seemed out of place for the show. In the sixth episode, titled "Teddy Perkins", Atlanta veered sharply into the territory of a thriller, and offered its most unsettling and tragic episode to date. Taking place almost entirely in a mansion owned by the reclusive and off-putting Teddy Perkins--played by an unrecognizable Donald Glover, ghoulish and quizzical in appearance--Darius makes the visit to acquire a special piano, but is side-tracked by the man's stories of fame and their shared fondness for Stevie Wonder.
With Darius taking the lead in this episode, the always aloof and sometimes difficult to understand sidekick to rapper PaperBoi is now the most sane and composed perspective inside Teddy's home. As more of the extended episode goes on, the enigmatic recluse becomes increasingly unhinged as he recalls his younger years living with an abusive father, while debating the price of fame with Darius. What seems like a send-up to Psycho and Get Out, with Darius' friends even telling him to bail through text-messages, ultimately culminates into something far more somber, leaving a lasting impression on him.
Atlanta reached new heights with Robbin' Season, and it was thanks in part to this particular episode's surprising turn, which was largely a detour in the larger plot of Earn and Al's struggles to make it in the city's music scene. At its conclusion, Darius is left to deal with the fallout of the events alone, and empty-handed. Stevie Wonder's "Evil" is played over the ending scene and credits, offering a chillingly poignant finish to the series' most surprising episode. -- Alessandro Fillari
2. Aggretsuko: "The Duel"
As cute as the Sanrio anime Aggretsuko is, it also dealt with some serious themes, like how to deal with the fact that your boss is a literal chauvinist pig. The show always felt like it was leading toward something, and in Episode 7, "The Duel," Retsuko's conflict with her boss came to a head in the most awesome way possible.
The cute red panda's talent for death metal was unknown to most of her co-workers until the moment she finally let it all out in a karaoke battle with that hog of a boss. It was incredibly cathartic to watch, and if you're like me, you had goosebumps the whole time. Finally, the fact that the entire office party was so drunk that none of them remembered it the next day was the perfect encapsulation of why Aggretsuko is so fun: Who can't relate to forgetting what happened at karaoke the night before? -- Mike Rougeau
3. Handmaid's Tale: "First Blood"
Handmaid's Tale Season 2 was a slow burn--too slow, some might argue. And for most of its episodes, Season 2 was simply never-ending misery. The tension of living under oppression almost never let up the entire season--with one massive exception that came in Episode 6, "First Blood."
Similar to the moment in Season 1 when Alexis Bledel's character hijacked a car, Season 2's main explosion of violence--literally--took place in "First Blood" when Ofglen set off a bomb in a room full of Commanders. We would have only loved it more if the casualties had been a bit more one-sided (too many handmaids died in the blast, although if she took out every Commander like she no doubt intended, there wouldn't be a show anymore). But it was cathartic nonetheless. -- Mike Rougeau
4. Daredevil Season 3: "Revelations"
The irony of Daredevil getting canceled this year is that Season 3 was the best the show has ever been--maybe the best Netflix/Marvel show season period. And unlike most previous examples of these shows, it never felt slow across all 13 episodes. That breakneck pace came to a peak in Season 3, Episode 9, "Revelations."
The title had multiple meanings. Firstly, Matt spend the episode dealing with the revelation in the previous episode that Sister Maggie was actually his mother. Even more importantly, Agent Nadeem faced the revelation that the FBI was more compromised than he ever imagined. When the agent finally decided to do the right thing in this episode it was a huge relief--and when the rug was pulled out from under him again at the end, it was a shocking gut punch. Daredevil Season 3 was phenomenal, and Episode 9 showcased exactly why. -- Mike Rougeau
5. Legion Season 2: "Chapter 19"
Legion Season 2's multiple timelines episode was a fun experiment, and might have earned the best episodes spot if the finale hadn't been so awesome and devastating. First, Episode 11 (titled "Chapter 19") opened with the most stylish and impressive scene in the show's history, as David and Farouk faced off in the desert while their psyches did animated battle.
Then, it did something that was both impossible and inevitable: It turned David Haller into the villain. And the show did it in a way that will stick: Haller sexually assaulted Syd by psychically drugging her. Another show might have turned its protagonist into a villain in a superficial way that it's sure to undo in the next season, especially after telegraphing it for so long. But there's no going back from that. Legion Season 2's finale changed how we'll look at the show forever, for better or worse. -- Mike Rougeau
6. Maniac: "Utangatta"
Netflix's Maniac wasn't always a ton of fun. In fact, it was often downright depressing. But when it did verge fully into bizarre comedy, it really nailed it. Case in point: Episode 9, "Utangatta."
The episode took place largely in one of Owen and Annie's shared fantasies, this one a mix of Mad Men, Doctor Strangelove, and Men in Black. And while Emma Stone, Justin Theroux, and Sonoya Mizuno outshone the unusually reserved Jonah Hill for much of this series, Hill's performance as the squealing Swedish-ish diplomat Snorri stole the entire show this episode. The stakes were high, and Jonah Hill might have been as well. "Utangatta" captured everything we loved about Maniac, and it was a delight. -- Mike Rougeau
7. Riverdale: "The Midnight Club"
It was a weird year for Riverdale fans. Season 2 went awry and, to be quite honest, was bad. Season 3 is still just as weird but seems to be getting better. In the midst of all of that, though, was a practically perfect episode. "The Midnight Club" takes a trip back in time to see what the parents of Riverdale were up to in high school. To make that happen, the show's younger past plays the teenage version of their characters' parents in a move that works surprisingly well. KJ Apa is able to perfectly embody '90s Luke Perry, while Cole Sprouse nails Scream-era Skeet Ulrich.
Beyond the fun character-swapping idea, what makes the episode so good is that it's essentially nothing but exposition for Season 3 of Riverdale, but it certainly doesn't feel that way. Exposition dumps are very common on TV and in film but typically feel very forced. With "The Midnight Club," viewers are instead brought along on a weird ride for the characters of a very weird show. This is Riverdale at its best and something the show should strive for more often. -- Chris Hayner
8. The Haunting of Hill House: "Two Storms"
There are plenty of reasons to love The Haunting of Hill House and episode six, "Two Storms," perfectly encapsulates just about all of them. Staggering not only for its absurd technicality--the entire episode was filmed in a series of long, uninterrupted takes, requiring the actors to rehearse for weeks before shooting as if they were preparing for a stage play--but for its precise exploration of just what made Hill House so magical in the first place.
Aptly named, "Two Storms" juxtaposes the Crane family during two of the worst nights of their lives, one in the past and one in the present. While terrifying storms rage outside of both the modern day and the flashback timeline, the Cranes prepare to bury their youngest sibling Nell the night before her funeral while, simultaneously, coping with her mysterious childhood disappearance back at Hill House itself years and years ago. It's as terrifying as it is tragic, carefully tempering the omnipresent tension of the series with brutally honest performances of grief and loss. The end result is a masterpiece of horror television, and an art piece to be enjoyed and rewatched over and over again. -- Meg Downey
9. Castle Rock: "The Queen"
It can be tricky to build real, emotional stakes into horror stories, especially ones as grandiose and complicated as Castle Rock. Between the myriad Stephen King references, the time travel, and the murder, it'd be easy for the softer side of things to slip by the wayside--but that's exactly what Episode 7, "The Queen," manages to feature.
Carried entirely by Sissy Spacek in an achingly empathetic performance, the episode explains the workings of Ruth Deaver's mind as it slowly succumbs to dementia--with the requisite, surrealistic Stephen King twist. Blurring the lines between past and present, Ruth explores her home, watching moments play out before her like vignettes that cascade through time itself before ultimately culminating in a devastatingly tragic end. Whether or not Ruth's condition actually is just the product of her aging brain, or some supernatural mission bestowed upon her by a higher power is never quite made explicit--but the episode is all the better for it. Soft, sweet, and tear jerkingly sad, "The Queen" manages to be one of the most beautifully bittersweet character studies of the year, and the clear standout of a strong first season for Castle Rock. -- Meg Downey
10. American Horror Story Apocalypse: "Return to Murder House"
Ask any American Horror Story fan and they'll agree--"Return to Murder House" is one of the best episodes in AHS history. In AHS Season 8, Episode 6, we returned to where it all began: the murder house in Los Angeles from season 1, home to the Harmon family and the dozens of spirits of those that died there who are trapped within it. Madison and Behold are sent to the murder house by Cordelia Goode to get information about powerful warlock Michael Langdon, who poses a threat to witches, warlocks, and the entire world. If you remember back to Season 1, Michael, the son of Vivien Harmon and Tate Langdon, was born in the murder house. The episode is a satisfying return to one of the series' best seasons and succeeds in tying up former storylines nicely.
We also get a rare happy ending in this episode for Moira O'Hara, a maid who was tragically killed and doomed to clean the house forever. The cast of Season 1 returns, and we get to learn what happened to the Harmon family. After multiple AHS characters came back from the dead, the stakes were raised with the revelation of Michael's abilities. "Return to Murder House" also gave us the return of the incomparable Jessica Lange as Constance Langdon. While American Horror Story tends to hold strong with its ensemble cast, the show is simply better with Lange. Impressively, "Return to Murder House " was also AHS star Sarah Paulson's directorial debut. As one of the core cast members in multiple seasons of AHS, she knows exactly how the show should work and what the viewers want. -- Chastity Vicencio
11. Westworld Season 2: "Kiksuya"
Westworld Season 2 contains the finest episode in the series: "Kiksuya." It tells the story of Akecheta, leader of the intimidating Ghost Nation tribe that roams the outskirts of the park. Akecheta's search for his wife, who was reprogrammed and taken from him, is a gorgeous meditation on love and how much it hurts to lose it.
On its surface; "Kiksuya" reminds readers not to judge these characters by their outer appearances. Far from being the monolithic, faceless killers they were programmed to be, the Ghost Nation tribe has evolved beyond that, and have been woke for quite some time.
And despite the losses inflicted upon them, they've kept their basic humanity in tact. While Dolores cuts a bloody path to the Valley Beyond, becoming every bit the human tyrant that she hates, Akecheta is protecting Maeve's daughter and communicating with Maeve herself via the mesh network. Upon understanding humanity, these hosts are rejecting its basest tendencies for something greater. -- Kevin Wong
12. My Hero Academia Season 3: "One For All"
All Might is the strongest. All Might is always smiling. These two absolutes are what modern society in My Hero Academia is built upon. They are what have allowed All Might to become the most beloved superhero; a deterrent to villains and a symbol of lasting peace that people can rely on.
But in One For All, All Might isn't the strongest; All Might isn't smiling. His power has been in rapid decline and, matched against his arch nemesis, his body is failing. Worse still, it's revealed that, unbeknownst to him, he had failed someone that desperately needed him. His morale is crushed and the once all-powerful symbol of peace is showing weakness, and it is gut-wrenching to witness.
But even in his darkest moment, All Might finds a way. The explosive, climactic battle in this episode encapsulates everything that is great about My Hero Academia, taking viewers on a rollercoaster of emotions with heart-sinking lows and triumphant highs. This episode takes two seasons worth of characterization and emotional build-up and then delivers an emotionally poignant, bittersweet payoff. -- Tamoor Hussain
13. Bojack Horseman Season 5: "Free Churro"
From the almost completely silent "Fish Out Of Water" to "Time's Arrow," an incredibly poignant episode where we follow two scrambled timelines through the eyes of BoJack's mother, who is suffering from late-stage dementia, BoJack Horseman has consistently proven itself to be one of the most creative shows on television right now. Season five's Free Churro is the best example of the show's writers flexing their creative muscles and delivering something utterly spectacular.
Free Churro has a simple premise: BoJack delivers a eulogy. And that's it. BoJack delivers a eulogy for over twenty minutes. Just one horse, standing in front of a coffin, delivering one of the most powerful episodes of television you'll see all year, complete with a gut punch of a line that you'll be thinking about for days to come. Don't sleep on this show. -- Lucy James.
14. Black Mirror: USS Callister
Black Mirror's love letter to Star Trek was the stand out episode from the anthology series' fourth season. Taking place both in the "real world" and aboard the simulated spaceship USS Callister, it delivered two beautifully interconnected storylines, and its cast (headed up by Westworld's Jimmi Simpson, and Fargo's Jesse Plemons) needed to play two versions of their character.
There was no weak link in USS Callister's ensemble cast, but Plemons was really the one to watch as he portrayed both the odious CTO Robert Daly, and his charming, charismatic avatar counterpart: Captain Robert Daly. The reveal that Daly is ultimately not the 'good guy' wouldn't be as impactful without Plemons' subtle but vulnerable performance as 'real world' Daly, and during his portrayal of Captain of the USS Callister, he chews on the scenery enough to make William Shatner blush.
There are so many subtle nods to both the original 1960s Star Trek and J.J. Abrams' more recent incarnation, as well as a few references to other Black Mirror episodes that it was a true joy for sci-fi fans to pick through.
Despite its almost feature length running time, the plot never dragged, and while it had a number of dark and twisted moments (it is an episode of Black Mirror, after all), it also had its fair share of laughs, making it a true highlight of this season. -- Lucy James
15. Homecoming: "Protocol"
Homecoming was a must-listen podcast hit back in 2016, a serialised thriller with a cast that included Oscar Isaac, Catherine Keener, and David Schwimmer. This year it became a ten-part Amazon series--it had a different cast but was every bit as gripping. Stylishly directed by Mr Robot creator Sam Esmail, the show starred Julia Roberts as Heidi Bergman, a woman struggling to remember the terrible events that happened several years earlier in a mysterious facility ostensibly set up to help pychologically-damaged soldiers deal with a return to civilian life.
The strange, paranoid atmosphere increases throughout the first seven episodes, until the stunning Episode 8, titled Protocol, finally allows a release of tension. Heidi travels to the renamed Homecoming facility with her former boss Colin--who she doesn't remember and believes is just a man she met in the diner she now works in. At the same time Carrasco, the Department of Defense investigator also trying to piece together what happened four years earlier, is hot on her trail.
The bulk of the episodes cuts between Heidi trying to locate her old office on one side of the huge building, while Carrasco is on the other, exploring at what remains of the Homecoming facility. There are some brilliantly inventive edits between the two simultaneous searches, until it reaches the moment when Heidi, Colin, and Carrasco come face-to-face. At that moment, Esmail performs his master stroke. As Heidi's memories come flooding back, the small boxed-in aspect ratio that had been used for the show's present day sequences suddenly opens out to reveal the full frame, and Heidi's life is changed forever. -- Dan Auty
16. Maniac: "Larger Structural Issues"
Every episode of Maniac offers a wealth of hilarious, sad, and bizarre delights, and Episode 6--titled "Larger Structural Issues"--is an absolute blast. After several episodes set in the hallucinatory worlds that Annie and Owen are experiencing as part of the drug trials, we return with one set almost entirely in the testing facility itself. The emphasis shifts from Annie and Owen to Dr. Mantleray (Justin Theroux), and, most importantly, his estranged mother, Greta (Sally Field)
Mantleray's computer GRTA is based on his mother's psyche, and when it starts to emotionally malfunction, he has no choice but to call Greta in to help sort it out. Their scenes together are gloriously odd. Theroux and Field give wonderful comic performances, bringing this painful, awkward, hilariously f***ed-up relationship to life.
But while they are not the center of this episode, Annie and Owen do share one of the show's most tender moments. They sit together in Owen's pod, talking about their shared experiences so far. Owen tells Annie about a fantasy in which they run away together, smiling and laughing. For the first time in a long time, he has someone truly sympathetic to talk to, and it becomes clear that this is a deep friendship forming outside the simulations. It's a truly touching scene, beautifully acted by Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, that is ultimately paid off in the last episode, when the fantasy comes true. -- Dan Auty
17. Better Call Saul: "Wiedersehen"
Season 4 of Better Call Saul was the first season in which the relationship between Jimmy and Chuck was not the center of the show. Following Chuck's death at the end of season 3, creator Vince Gilligan shifted the primary focus to the relationship between Jimmy and Kim, and introduced several subplots that will have eventual payoff in its parent show, Breaking Bad. All these elements came to a head in the season's ninth and best episode, "Wiedersehen."
This episode saw Jimmy's frustration at being denied his legal license after a year-long ban explode to the surface in a fiery showdown with Kim. He accuses her of not supporting him, of only viewing him as the con-man he once was--neither of which is remotely true. But Kim gives as good as she gets, and their confrontation shows both Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn at their very best.
But the episode's true power came from the subplot involving Mike and Werner, the head of the German construction crew hired to build Gus's super-lab. Both men had formed something approaching a friendship, but when Werner is refused time off to visit his wife, he leaves the job anyway. With Gus demanding a quick resolution, the reluctant, conflicted Mike has no choice but to track Werner down and put a bullet in his head. Their final scene together in the desert, as Werner realises what Mike has to do, is truly haunting. -- Dan Auty
18. Terrace House: "A Fairy on a Split Road"
Unlike many other reality TV shows, Terrace House makes no attempt to manufacture conflict. Instead it places three Japanese men and three Japanese women into a house and allows them to live their lives, with viewers watching how interpersonal relationships develop.
While conflict isn't a driving force behind the show, romance is. Many of the housemates are single and looking for love. In A Fairy on a Split Road, a potential romance culminates in the most heartwarming way. On the one side there's Tsubasa, a tomboyish hockey player who is charming, funny, and driven. On the other, there's Shion, a classically handsome model--the kind of person you know would be very lucky in love.
The two form a bond, but romance isn't immediately apparent. Perhaps by design, thanks to editing, the pair seem to straddle the line between friends and lovers. At the heart of that uncertainty are preconceptions about Shion, who announced that he wants to be loved and adored by Terrace House viewers when he first joined. The fact that he was sidling up to Tsubasa, undoubtedly a fan favorite, made him suspicious, as it would be a surefire way to curry favor. In A Fairy on a Split road, however, Shion reveals his feelings to Tsubasa. She's fresh off a crushing defeat that would have pushed her hockey career forward, so emotions are high. Alone in a room, sat on the floor, Tsubasa reciprocates and the two share an awkward confession, gingerly lowering their barriers to bare their hearts in a way that is disarmingly heartfelt.
"If it's really me that you want, I'll be your girlfriend," Tsubasa says, her politeness belying the fact that she is clearly a wonderful, kindhearted person. "Are you sure it's me you want?" she adds, surprised by Shion's confession. "You really have to ask that?" Shion says back to her, showing the audience that he sees what makes her special, just as they do.
Reality TV romances rarely have played out in such a natural, honest way. Fairy on a Split Road is a reminder that Terrace House is the most wholesome reality TV show around, and it's moments like this that prove it's one of the best feel-good viewing experiences you can have. -- Tamoor Hussain
19. The Americans: "Start"
Many long-running shows end with a bang, particularly when they can accurately be described for most of their runs as "adrenaline-fueled spy dramas full of intrigue, sex, violence, and espionage." But when The Americans ended this year, its Season 6 finale--the FX show's final episode--went out with a quiet, emotional whimper. It culminated in a single scene--a simple conversation--that fans had been waiting to see for years. And then it was just over. It was perfect.
Throughout it all, it was never clear, even up to the very last scene, how The Americans would end. It turned out to be that rare conclusion that both wrapped the story up perfectly and left you wanting more--even though the story is over, it felt like Season 7 could debut next year and pick it right back up. The Jennings may be terrible people, but although we probably won't find out what happens to them next, I'm glad we got to know them for the time we did. -- Mike Rougeau
20. GLOW: "The Good Twin"
Everything on Netflix's GLOW was building towards this episode, and it was executed perfectly. For those not in-the-know, GLOW is about an all-women's wrestling promotion and the struggle to produce a TV show all while trying to find its voice, and it's vaguely based on the '80s wrestling show of the same name. During Season 2, the show was well under way, and viewers got to see segments being filmed, sprinkled throughout the first half.
However, the episode titled "The Good Twin" was just an episode of the fictional TV series. It was cheesy and the most '80s thing on television since, well, anything that aired during the neon-colored decade. There are even commercials for businesses that have been mentioned on the show in the past, and again, they are all very much of their time. As someone viewing this very bizarre episode of GLOW, it ultimately feels incredibly satisfying, as you're seeing the final product these characters have worked so hard on the past two seasons. -- Mat Elfring
21. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 13: "Mac Finds His Pride"
The vast majority of the time, the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are awful to each other and the people around them. They are despicable human beings, but that's kind of the appeal of the show, even after 13 seasons now. However, the season finale this year, titled "Mac Finds His Pride," is a touching and heartwarming episode, something incredibly rare in the series.
Frank wants to recruit Mac for a float in the upcoming gay pride parade, but Mac is resistant, as he doesn't know where he fits in the world as a gay man. Before he can be comfortable with himself, he has to come out to his father, who is in prison. So Mac puts on a performance at said prison in order to out himself to his dad and try and gain his acceptance. The performance itself is breathtaking and emotional and heartbreaking as all of Mac's feelings he's had bottled up since the series began come out in the interpretive dance, and if you don't have a tear in your eye--or are full-out crying--by the end, check your pulse. This isn't the funniest episode of the series by any means, but it is certainly the most well-rounded and beautiful for sure. -- Mat Elfring
22. Titans: "Doom Patrol"
DC Universe's first original series, Titans, has been a lot of fun. It's a fantastic and unexpectedly good show, even when the first trailer showed Robin saying, "F*** Batman," which left a bad taste in many people's mouths. Trailers aside, DC is building a world here, and that all starts with Titans. More specifically, it starts with--and is very apparent in--the episode titled "Doom Patrol."
The episode splits everyone up. As Dick and Kory are off searching for Raven, she's befriended another metahuman named Gar (Beast Boy), and he takes her to his home, a mansion in the middle of the woods. We quickly learn Gar was saved/given metahuman powers by a doctor, and Gar's roommates all have that same backstory. There's a former race car driver turned into a robot, a beautiful woman who is actually some sort of weird blob, and a man covered in bandages with a secret. This group will eventually become the "Doom Patrol," which will actually be an original series on DC Universe in 2019. These characters are weird, out-there, bizarre, but because of this, Titans plants one foot firm into the sand to say, "There's more to this world than what we've presented. There is a world within this one that isn't ultra-violent and dark."
I wouldn't say the Doom Patrol is a "grass is always greener on the other side" episode, as the unease the viewer feels at time is the same as they'd feel during a horror movie, but it does present a larger, and very different, world, which is important for DC Universe's future survival in this shared universe.
In addition to all of that, "Doom Patrol" is the episode that finally brings the Titans together as a team. It is a real turning point, as Gar joins up with Dick, Kory, and Raven by the end of the episode. It's a "eureka" moment as the viewer finally has an inkling of where everything in this show is headed. -- Mat Elfring
It's hard to deny that "Elseworlds" is going to mean big things for Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl. It's a crossover event loaded with firsts, from a visit to Gotham City and the arrival of Batwoman (Ruby Rose), to a trip to Smallville and the introduction of Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch). One of the most exciting firsts, though, is the first meeting between Superman (Tyler Hoechlin), The Flash (Grant Gustin), and Green Arrow (Stephen Amell).
As you can see in the clip below, which GameSpot and TV Guide are debuting exclusively, the iconic moment is also a bit confusing. Thanks to whatever is going on with "Elseworlds," Barry and Oliver have switched bodies, leaving the Green Arrow with speedster abilities and The Flash with a great talent for archery. Still, even with the identity crisis, this is a very cool moment.
And, of course, it's also a little funny. Upon realizing they're in the presence of Superman, Oliver quicky puffs out his chest and is immediately called on it by Barry. Something tells us watching these two navigate whatever is happening to them is going to be very entertaining.
What this clip doesn't show, however, is the superheroes in their costumes. As we've seen from the massive collection of photos released for the three-night event, though, there will be plenty of costumed action, including Amell suited up as The Flash and Gustin wearing Green Arrow's hood. Fans will also get to see Superman in a black suit for reasons that have yet to be revealed.
Based on everything we've seen so far, "Elseworlds" looks like the biggest and craziest crossover yet. You're not going to want to miss this event. "Elseworlds" kicks off Sunday, December 9, and concludes on Tuesday, December 11, on The CW.
Ring of Honor's Jay Lethal is on top of the world right now: He's ROH World Champion, has what will be an epic match with Cody coming up on December 14 at Final Battle, and has a backlog of video games he needs to catch up on. However, Lethal is a huge Pokemon fan and has plenty of tips on how to catch those pesky pocket monsters in Pokemon Go.
Lethal travels quite a bit as a professional wrestler, and in doing so, ends up playing a whole lot of Pokemon Go while travelling the world. Of course, a champion like Lethal is going to have some tips to catch them all. "Number one tip from Lethal is you gotta just be lucky, which is the way I live my life," he jokingly told GameSpot.
Photo credit: Ring of Honor
"I think you gotta load it with berries," Lethal continued. "I really haven't had too many issues where I had trouble catching anything. Although there's some nightmare stories of my buddy, he just couldn't catch anything. I've gotten lucky too because I got a couple shiny Eevees too. Back when they were doing a shiny Eevee program. I got maybe 20 of them. But my buddy who's always next to me and in the same spots that I was, he didn't get any."
Lethal explained that he loves using psychic type Pokemon in the game, with Abra and Kadabra being his favorites. He's not much of an electric type player, which may explain why he attacked a Pikachu statue. "I actually have a picture of me super kicking a Pikachu," Lethal recounted. "There was a little Pikachu statue in Miami. Some convention I was there for, and there was a Pikachu, and I said I'll take a picture. And I pretended to super kick it, and that was my profile picture for awhile."
Photo credit: Ring of Honor
When it comes to collecting or attacking Pokemon or just life in general, Lethal's tip remains to just be lucky. "There are plenty of other wrestlers out there who I feel are better than me. There's always someone better, but I've been lucky with the opportunities presented to me. I've been in the right place at the right time to be Ring of Honor World Champion for the second time. To get to do some of the things I've done: hang out with Lanny Poffo, talk to the Macho Man, work with Ric Flair, meet Hulk Hogan, wrestle Kurt Angle live on pay-per-view. I've just been very, very lucky, and I've had a great wrestling career so far. I really feel like I won the lottery. Yeah, to say that my biggest tip, not only for Pokemon go but for life is to be lucky is an understatement."
You can see Jay Lethal defend his world title against The Elite member Cody next week at Ring of Honor's Final Battle PPV, which airs live from New York City on Friday, December 14. The show will start at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on PPV, free for HonorClub VIPs, a 50% discount for HonorClub Standard, and on FITE TV. Check out ROH Wrestling or the ROH app for more details.
For more on Jay Lethal, check out our full interview from earlier this year, where the champ discusses playing Nintendo Switch and his infamous segment with Ric Flair.
By Anonymous on Dec 08, 2018 04:18 am Devil May Cry 5 has a demo available now for all Xbox One users. Take control of Nero and slash your way through enemies to face a massive boss at the end.
What were your favorite comedy movies and shows in 2018?
Sometimes, it feels like the world is crumbling around you. Whether it's political turmoil, the negativity in the news, or everyone screaming their loud opinions on the internet, you just need to take a break and get your mind off of the world. Luckily, there's a whole genre of movies and TV series that provide the laughs you need, and that's comedy.
2018 was a phenomenal year for the genre that tries real hard to make you laugh. From a blockbuster superhero movie starring a foul-mouthed hero to a Netflix animated series where everyone is going through puberty, there was plenty of content that surely got you to chuckle at least once or twice.
There was almost too much good comedy this past year, and sifting through it all was a challenging task for the fine staff of GameSpot. Luckily, after hours of arguments and saying things we can never take back, we've narrowed down a list of TV series and movies from 2018 that are hilarious and well worth your time.
Presented below are the 20 best comedy movies and television shows from the past year. Let us know which one of these tickled your fancy in 2018 and your favorite moments from each of them. If you're looking for more retrospectives in entertainment, check out our best of lists from 2018 below.
How important is simple goodness? The world is a forest fire, both literally and figuratively. While there are plenty of major action, drama, and horror films that thrill and chill us as viewers, they don't always send you away from the theater with a smile on your face. And honestly, that's something we desperately need sometimes.
What makes Paddington 2, and Paddington himself, so engaging is that this way of life is so simple. He is good and he's doing his best to put good into the world. The universe being what it is, he doesn't always get that goodness in return immediately. But his positive spirit makes an impact on those around him, changing things for the better. Who couldn't use a little more of that in their lives? It's such an easy idea, but also one that's easy to forget. Luckily, we've got that little Peruvian bear to remind us that literally anyone can make a change for the better in some way, big or small. You just have to try. -- Chris Hayner
2. The Good Place
There's just something unequivocally lovable about The Good Place. Focusing on four people who find themselves trying to navigate the afterlife, the show keeps finding ways to reinvent itself, pushing its premise in new and unexpected directions and mining those directions for humor and heart. The writing is consistently top-notch, laden with hilarious one-liners and numerous hidden gems. Discussions of philosophy and ethics have never been this entertaining.
The best thing about The Good Place, though, is that it's a show about people who, at their core, want to be better than they already are. It carries a positivity that's infectious. It's nearly impossible not to come away from an episode of The Good Place without feeling better than you did when you started it. The Good Place is smart enough to say something about the real world, but refreshingly, it never makes its comments with cynicism--the whole point is that there's hope for all of us. Nobody's beyond changing if they want to, even Kristen Bell's oft-awful (but always hysterical) Eleanor and her Soul Squad companions. -- Phil Hornshaw
3. Game Night
Game Night, starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, is a dark comedy of errors. On a couple's game night, the host of the party is assaulted and kidnapped, and his guests mistakenly think this is part of the mystery roleplaying game they're playing. So they continue as though nothing's wrong, only to realize, too late, that the criminals and the guns are real.
The comedic standout in this film is Jesse Plemons, who gained notoriety as the murderous Todd in the final season of Breaking Bad, following that up with a role in Fargo Season 2. And in this movie, he's a creepy next door neighbor who no one wants to invite to game night.
To draw a comparison: John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the co-writers behind Horrible Bosses and Horrible Bosses 2, co-directed this film. And if you liked the glossy-look-meets-offbeat-humor of those movies, you'll love Game Night. -- Kevin Wong
4. Blockers
Three parents discover that their daughters have made a pact to lose their virginities on prom night, and will do anything in their power to stop them. If you judge Blockers by its name and premise, it sounds like a forgettable straight-to-DVD affair that could have been released in 2005. But it's 2018, and Kay Cannon's directorial debut is a refreshing take on the teen sex comedy genre, and one that's not only funny, but genuinely heartfelt.
It balances gross out humor, like John Cena butt chugging a beer (and trust me, you need to see John Cena butt chugging a beer), with progressive and enlightening conversations between teenage girls who are coming to terms with growing up and discovering their sexualities. It's still crass in all the right places, so if you're looking to have a laugh on a Friday night, look no further. -- Lucy James
5. Bojack Horseman Season 5
While BoJack Horseman may not be a typical animated comedy (given that its main character is a depressed, drug addicted horse, it's difficult to see how it could be), but its intelligent brand of humor and the way it delicately toes the line between crushing emotional beats and absurd comedy truly sets it apart from other shows. And it was still just as sublime in its fifth season. There's biting commentary at Hollywood's (or should we say Hollywoo's) expense ("Are you the umlaut in Chloë Sevigny's name right now? Because I don't know why you're here, but I'm glad you are"), and absurd storylines like Princess Carolyn and Todd requiring a mediator to resolve an argument over a stolen string cheese. Not to mention that you'll be spending half the time looking out for hidden jokes in the background of every shot (even if the show tells you not to). In fact, BoJack Horseman is so laden with jokes, you'll need to go back and rewatch the episodes to make sure you catch every little thing. -- Lucy James
6. Crazy Rich Asians
Crazy Rich Asians is fashion porn and wealth porn; you find yourself gawking at the massive estates, the expensive cars, the brand designer clothes, and the decadent wedding where the center aisle floods so the bride can walk on water. But the film is edited well and moves at a brisk pace. The cumulative effect is breezy and carefree rather than gross and exploitative.
These types of movies, which give us plebes a peek at how the other half lives, are best when they have a regular, middle class protagonist who we can identify with. In The Devil Wears Prada, it was Andy, played by Anne Hathaway. In Crazy Rich Asians, it's Rachel, played by Constance Wu, who is dating the heir to a wealthy Singaporean family and is judged on her Asian-ness, her American-ness, and her lack of wealth and family pedigree.
The much-celebrated, all Asian cast -- an extreme exception for an American production -- was excellent. The two standouts were Gemma Chan, who played the role of Astrid, and action star Michelle Yeoh, who played the protective mother that Rachel must win over.
The inclusion of Asian men who are sexual, desirable, and fill a variety of narrative roles is an advancement that is both welcome and embarrassingly late. Hopefully, Crazy Rich Asians will be one of the last times that an Asian American film has to "break new ground." Let's go upwards and onwards, from here on out. -- Kevin Wong
7. Uncle Drew
Uncle Drew was funny on multiple levels. The movie about basketball players in "old people" makeup sure does have plenty of jokes in it, but what I found hilarious was how many partnerships this movie had. First, it was--in part--produced by Pepsi. Second, it had a few promotional partners like The General Insurance, Wheaties, Aleve, AARP, American Express, and more. I'm not talking about this in a mean-spirited way by any means. It feels fully fitting for a movie like Uncle Drew, which feels like every '90s sports comedy rolled up into one.
The movie follows Dax (Lil Rel Howery) as a streetball manager who has to put together a new team, which consists of retired streetball players made up of Kyrie Irving, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, and Nate Robinson in old people makeup. Dax's arch-nemesis Mookie Bass (Nick Kroll) has his own team, made up of Dax's former players. The back and forth between the two makes some of the best moments. It's a simple and fun movie that combines elements of the typical sports comedy and the classic road trip film. It's surprisingly more than a one-trick-pony with putting people in geriatric makeup, although that's still a big part of what makes it entertaining. -- Mat Elfring
8. Ant-Man and the Wasp
After seeing Infinity War, fans across the nation were bummed out, because their favorite characters were just killed off in an epic movie. Luckily, Ant-Man and the Wasp, the sequel to 2015's Ant-Man, was a delightful palate cleanser. The movie was layered with tons of jokes and the whole thing felt light-hearted and fun, something Marvel movie fans desperately needed. It took what worked in the first movie and expanded upon it, while making sure certain elements--especially the comedy aspects--didn't overstay their welcome. And much like Pixar's Incredibles 2, the Ant-Man sequel revolved heavily around family, more specifically around the dynamics between fathers and daughters. This created a brilliantly layered movie for something most people just assumed was going to be a "silly superhero movie."
Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost was also a very welcome addition to the cast, even when you consider the fact that Ghost isn't even an Ant-Man villain to begin with. On the surface of Ant-Man and the Wasp, it's a silly superhero movie about growing and shrinking, but the film ends up being a lot deeper than we thought it would be. It's a movie that proves Marvel can put out a standalone movie in the midst of something larger happening. Hopefully, they do more movies like this in the future. -- Mat Elfring
9. Sorry to Bother You
On the surface, Sorry to Bother You sounds simple. Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) gets a much needed job as a telemarketer, where he quickly learns to adopt a distinctively funny "white voice" (played by comedian David Cross) to get ahead. He wrestles with his identity as a black man in the face of this success, especially as his co-workers revolt against the company's broken systems while he rises through the ranks.
But Sorry to Bother You ultimately becomes much more than simply social or racial satire, especially when it careens into full on dystopian science fiction. And yet it somehow never loses its sense of humor, either. Sorry to Bother You raises questions about identity, personal responsibility, corporate ethics, workers' revolutions, and the nature of art, while also being a movie about--slight spoilers--people snorting magical cocaine and being very literally transformed into something both more and less than their original selves.
Stanfield is exceptional in the lead role, and his success is bolstered by a supporting cast that includes Tessa Thompson (in yet another fantastic performance this year), Steven Yeun, Danny Glover, and more. Whether you're in it for the comedy, the science fiction, or the biting social commentary, director Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You was one of the best movies of 2018. -- Mike Rougeau
10. Blindspotting
Coming off of the wildly popular Broadway musical Hamilton, triple-threat performer Daveed Diggs set his sights on telling a more personal story set in a heavily gentrified Oakland, California. With his co-star and co-writer Rafael Casal, Blindspotting is a showcase of the constant hustle of Bay Area living. Interestingly enough, both Diggs and Casal went to the same high school in the Bay Area, and that connection between them makes the film and their dynamic performances all the better. When the lead characters Colin and Miles aren't dealing with the encroaching influence of gentrification--with new residents pricing out the old and along with corner stores hawking expensive green health drinks--they bond over the better days of Oakland while dropping some smooth freestyle flows that focus on the good they still have in their lives.
Featuring an already solid script that manages to balance the high-highs and low-lows of life in modern Oakland, what really propels the movie to amazing heights are the fantastic performances given by Diggs and Casal. With an undeniable chemistry between them, both stars riff off one another with ease--even when they're at odds. There's a surprisingly Shakespearean-like cadence to the dialog and set-up of scenes, which is exemplified when Rafael Casal's character proudly states, "Everybody listen more when you make it sound pretty." In one of the movie's most profound moments, this line of thinking is taken seriously when Diggs' character Colin breaks off into a freestyle that's raw and poignant--showing frustration at being treated as an outsider in his own home, along with his struggles to figure out his place in "the new Oakland".
This very pivotal scene sums up what Blindspotting is all about, and it's given even more gravitas thanks to the stellar performances given by Diggs and Casal. -- Alessandro Fillari
11. Anna and the Apocalypse
Snow is falling, Christmas carols are being sung everywhere, and the living undead are tearing apart your small Scottish town. What is a girl to do but kick butts, bash heads, and sing her way through the apocalypse? Story wise, Anna and the Apocalypse isn't much different from your run-of-the-mill teenage musical. The titular Anna (Ella Hunt, a Buffy for a new generation) is tired of her small town life and wants to see the world before heading to university. Her best friend John (Malcolm Cumming) wishes he was more than that to her. Their film nerd friend Chris (Christopher Leveaux) and his musical theater girlfriend Lisa (Marli Siu) can't keep their hands off each other, and the socially conscious Steph (Sarah Swire) wants to change the world.
Anna and the Apocalypse doesn't invent a new wheel, but it succeeds at everything it seeks out to do while also becoming a new Christmas classic. As a comedy it is hilarious, as a horror film it makes you afraid for the characters' gruesome deaths, as a teenage film it is earnest and relatable, and as a musical it will have you singing along to the soundtrack for days. -- Rafael Motamayor
12. Deadpool 2
The first Deadpool film captured the essence of the Merc with a Mouth, and it was clear that Ryan Reynolds was born to play the starring role. Deadpool 2 is just as fun and gives Deadpool fans exactly what they want--meta jokes, stylistic action, and R-rated violence. While the first film was definitely more grounded with a tighter script, this sequel is all over the place. But it's a fun ride.
The action in Deadpool 2 is great--it definitely earns its R-rating and is hyper violent. New additions to the cast, particularly Josh Brolin as Cable and Zazie Beetz as Domino, reinvigorate the series with solid performances. The way that X-Force is included and handled in the film is quite funny, and Deadpool's interactions with the X-Men are just as amusing as they were before. Credit is also due to the movie's hilarious mid-credits scene, which took Deadpool's meta humor to another level. Yes, Deadpool 2 is more of the same, but for Deadpool fans, that's not a bad thing. -- Chastity Vicencio
13. Big Mouth Season 2
Big Mouth Season 2 was the perfect follow-up to Season 1. It's still a disgusting, puerile, way too honest examination of puberty in all its terrible forms. But also like Season 1, the new episodes pack in an incredible amount of heart and character development for a show that stars a boy who f***s his pillow, personified incarnations of the protagonist's pubes, and an invisible monster who constantly urges teenagers to masturbate. Big Mouth has proved to be the perfect playground for today's top comedians, from Nick Kroll and John Mulaney to Jenny Slate, Jordan Peele, Jason Mantzoukas, Fred Armisen, and countless more who provide their voices and talents. And best of all, when you're done watching it, you'll have dozens of disgusting new euphemisms for sex, chief among them "making thick in the warm." Ew, but also, fantastic. -- Mike Rougeau
14. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 13
The 13th season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia aired on FXX this year, and who would have thought that not only would it still be going strong but the show would keep getting better and better? The show had two of the strongest episodes in the series this season: "Mac Finds His Pride," which we'll be discussing in detail in another feature, and "Time's Up For The Gang," which is a look at the Time's Up movement through the eyes of five, despicable people, with an ending you can see coming from a mile away, but still works oh so well.
While on its surface, Always Sunny may seem like your typical dirtbag comedy, the writing has slowly evolved these characters, which are unrecognizable from the first season until now. Even when faced with remembering their own past, like in "The Gang Does A Clip Show," their own narcissism changes the vision of the past, which makes for excellent comedy. It's just amazing to me that a show has been on the air for 13 years and it not only remains relevant and funny, but it keeps getting funnier. -- Mat Elfring
15. BlacKkKlansman
Spike Lee came back in a big way in 2018 with the unbelievable story of BlacKkKlansman. John David Washington stars as Colorado Springs' first black police officer who, with the help of his partner, played by Adam Driver, goes undercover to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Director Spike Lee takes a very serious and unfunny time during America's history--the civil rights movement--and spins a tale that is ultimately comedic.
There are moments of gold within the entire film. Take for instance when Washington's character Ron Stallworth is having a conversation with KKK grand wizard David Duke (Topher Grace). On the phone, Duke tells Stallworth he knows when a black man is doing a "white voice," to which Stallworth and other officers start to crack up. There are plenty of moments in this film where Stallworth gets one over on Duke, including once in person, which makes Grace's portrayal of Duke the ultimate comedic foil throughout the film. Aside from that aspect, this is just a fantastic movie, and one of the best of the year. It's surprising it's gone under-the-radar for some people. -- Mat Elfring
16. Super Troopers 2
The definition of a cult hit, Super Troopers always seemed destined to be a one-off, not least due to the mixed success of subsequent Broken Lizard movies like Club Dread and Beerfest. But over a long decade and a half that included multiple false starts--at one point, they said it was going to be a prequel set in the 1970s in which they'd all play their own dads--and a wildly successful crowdfunding campaign, Super Troopers 2 was sloppily birthed into the world.
And, almost unbelievably, it turned out pretty good. Super Troopers 2 somehow manages to feel even more meandering, flighty, and lackadaisical than the original, but its laughs arrive at a breakneck speed that would have these troopers spitting out their liters of cola if the movie sped by them on the highway. If you've spent the last 17 years sneaking the word "meow" into everyday speech and wondering how quickly you could chug every bottle of syrup that you see, Super Troopers 2 was not a disappointment. -- Mike Rougeau
17. Love, Simon
Love, Simon doesn't do anything really new or exceptional in the genre of teenage romantic comedies, save one thing: Love, Simon is the story of the titular Simon (Nick Robinson) coming out. Along the way, it relies on plenty of tropes, but still manages to feel fresh because it's a version of this story we've rarely seen. The characters draw you into their world, and you wind up rooting for everyone to be happy in the end (except Martin, screw that guy). Sure, the movie plays it pretty safe overall, but there's something even more endearing about treating the subject matter like any other high school rom-com. Ultimately, Love, Simon is so sincere that it will win you over in the end. -- Mike Rougeau
18. Isle of Dogs
Wes Anderson's talent for creating whimsical film worlds is unique--no one is better than him at building intricate, candy-coated dioramas masquerading as movie sets and plots. Where many directors strive to make movies that seem as realistic as possible, Anderson bends reality until it drips in slow motion with deep cut '70s alt rock b-sides and non-sequitur one-liners that get right to the heart. Isle of Dogs is one of his most Anderson-y films yet, but somehow, it's also more focused, driven, and pared down than anything the director has done before. At just over 100 minutes, Isle of Dogs could have used a little more time spent on some of its side characters and subplots, and a little more at the end. But there's a silver lining there: Isle of Dogs is Wes Anderson's most focused film ever, and you'll want to go through it again. -- Mike Rougeau
19. To All The Boys I've Loved Before
Netflix has plenty of misses to go along with the hits when it comes to its originals, but To All the Boys I've Loved Before is one of the latter. Nestled snugly in the teen romantic comedy genre, To All The Boys tells the story of Lara Jean (Lana Condor), an Asian-American high school girl who's mortified when the private love letters she keeps in a box somehow make their way to their unintended recipients. Naturally, that sends Lara Jean on a romantic spiral, as she begins fake dating a jock in a convoluted scheme to win over her neighbor, who's also her sister's boyfriend.
Look, it's a lot. And yes, it's full of cliches. But To All The Boys I've Loved Before is so heartfelt and charming, and its characters are so likeable, that you won't really mind. Thankfully, there's already a sequel in the works. -- Mike Rougeau
20. Teen Titans GO! To the Movies
In the age of superhero movies, comic books adaptations veering into the comedy genre was going to happen eventually. When it did, with Deadpool and Deadpool 2, the laughs were definitely aimed at adults. Thankfully, Teen Titans GO! To the Movies is here to deliver the jokes for audiences of all ages. In GameSpot's review of the film, we dubbed it "Deadpool for kids," and that's what it is.
Teen Titans GO! Has no problem poking fun at everything superhero relation, including its own universe of films. And while these jokes are told in a way that makes them easily digestible for younger audiences, they still work on adults. There's just no cursing or blood being splattered around. -- Chris E. Hayner
By Anonymous on Dec 08, 2018 03:12 am Counter Strike Global Offensive just released an all new Battle Royale mode called Danger Zone. Here's a full match showing just what that entails. Captured on PC.
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