If you're up for something new to watch on Netflix, but don't know what to stream because you have no clue what's new, and Netflix's "New Release" section is relatively awful, don't worry, we have you covered. Let's take a look at what's coming to the streaming service this week.
This is a big week for releases, with the most of it all coming on Friday. As far as non-Netflix originals go, on Sunday, the 2015 film Cop Car hit Netflix. The Kevin Bacon movie follows a police officer who finds two teenagers who have stolen his car for a joy ride. Additionally, the 2018 movie Big Kill arrives on Tuesday. The western follows a group of people in a boom town, and the adventures they have. The film stars Young Guns alum Lou Diamond Phillips.
As far as originals go, there are a few you may want to check out, like Season 2 of the Dark. The series follows a family in Germany, and there's a whole supernatural twist tied to the series. The new season arrives on June 21. And if you're looking for a new stand-up special to watch, as Netflix has a million of them, check out Adam Devine's "Best Time of Our Lives." In the stand-up special, Devine discusses his Pitch Perfect audition and his awkward celebrity encounters.
This is a much better week for anime fans, specifically those who love Evangelion. On Friday, The End of Evangelion, EVANGELION: DEATH (TRUE)², and Neon Genesis Evangelion will all be released. To see what else is coming out this week, you'll find everything coming to Netflix below and make sure to see what else is coming for the rest of June.
June 16
Cop Car
June 17
The Missing: Season 3 -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
June 18
Adam Devine: Best Time of Our Lives -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Big Kill
June 19
Beats -- NETFLIX FILM
The Edge of Democracy -- NETFLIX FILM
June 20
Le Chant du Loup -- NETFLIX FILM
June 21
Ad Vitam -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Bolívar -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Casketeers: Season 2 -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Confession Tapes: Season 2 -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Cyberpunk 2077 had an impressive showing on Microsoft's stage during E3 2019, where we learned lots of information--like the role Keanu Reeves plays--and saw lots of exciting gameplay. That gameplay may have been restricted to a behind-closed-doors event on the show floor, but Polish developers CD Projekt Red announced that we'll all get to see it this August.
In replying to a tweet from Wushu Studios' community manager, CD Projekt Red's global community lead Marcin Momot said Cyberpunk 2077's extended gameplay demo will be public during this year's PAX West, which takes place in the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle between August 29 and September 2. Momot said, "It's going to happen exactly during PAX West."
In other Cyberpunk news, we've learned that the sci-fi, first-person shooter will have multiple endings. In an interview with YongYea during this year's E3, quest director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz simply confirmed that, like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt before it, Cyberpunk 2077 will have more than one ending. How many remains to be seen, as Tomaszkiewicz didn't quantify "multiple." However, Tomaszkiewicz also said that all other augmentations--aside from the two assigned during the Prologue--are completely optional and that there is currently no level cap set for the game.
We're getting ever closer to the release of Cyberpunk 2077, as CD Projekt Red founder Marcin Iwinski confirmed that the game has entered the polishing stage of development. Cyberpunk 2077 launches on April 16, 2020 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Last month, The Pokemon Company began distributing a free Shiny Pikachu and Eevee for the Let's Go games on Nintendo Switch. If you've yet to claim one, however, your time to do so is running out. The distribution is set to end this Sunday, June 23, making this your last opportunity to add the free Shiny Pokemon to your collection.
To claim the Pokemon, you'll first need to download the free Pokemon Pass app on your smartphone. You can grab it from Google Play or the App Store. Once the app has been installed, you'll need to visit a participating Target store, then find a sign with a QR code for the free Pokemon in the toy aisle. Scan the code using the Pokemon Pass app and you'll receive a serial code that you can then input in the Let's Go games.
The Pokemon you'll receive will be the opposite of the version you own, so you'll get a Shiny Eevee in Let's Go Pikachu, and a Shiny Pikachu in Let's Go Eevee. Each Pokemon comes at level 10 and knows the following movesets:
Pikachu
Thunderbolt
Double Kick
Double Team
Thunder
Eevee
Double-Edge
Iron Tail
Helping Hand
Facade
Once you've gotten a serial code from Target, fire up your copy of Let's Go and select the Mystery Gift option from the game's main menu. Choose the option to receive your gift with a code/password, then the serial code and the free Pikachu or Eevee will be downloaded into your game. You can find step-by-step directions in our guide on how to get your free Shiny Pikachu or Eevee.
Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee are available now on Nintendo Switch, but those aren't the only Pokemon RPGs coming to the console. A new pair of Pokemon games, Pokemon Sword and Shield, are set to launch on the system on November 15. We learned a lot more details about the titles at E3 2019; we got our first look at their new Dynamax mechanic and learned how Max Raid Battles work. You can read more about the games in our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.
Mortal Kombat 11 is getting a significant addition to competitive play with an update coming on June 18. The "Kombat League" update will add a seasonal ranked mode with in-game rewards up for grabs.
In Kombat League, you can participate in ranked matches during four-week seasons to compete (ahem, kompete) your way across nine tiers of ranks. Those range from Apprentice to Elder God. Rewards are cumulative for all lower tiers, and you'll earn rewards based on the highest tier you reached during the season. The update will also add new daily and seasonal quests for more items. Once a season ends, the next one will start immediately so you can start grinding your way up to the next set of rewards. The first season is called the Season of Blood.
The matchmaking system will pair you up against players of similar skill levels as you improve and climb the ranks. The update will also add a new meter to give you a quick look at your chances of winning against an opponent when you begin a ranked match.
The Kombat League will be launching alongside Shang Tsung, the first of six planned DLC fighters. The studio has also revealed Spawn, Nightwolf, and Sindel are coming, but another DLC fighter reveal could be on the way.
The Hunger Games wasn't simply the movie franchise that made Jennifer Lawrence a star--it was a box office monster that made more than $2.9 billion worldwide. There have been rumors about a spin-off movie for several years, and it has now been confirmed that a prequel film is in development.
As reported by Variety, Lionsgate will produce a new movie based on an upcoming novel from Suzanne Collins, who wrote the book series that the movies were adapted from. Although neither the novel nor the movie have a release date yet, Collins has revealed that the story will be set 64 years before the events of the Hunger Games.
In a statement, the author said: "With this book, I wanted to explore the state of nature, who we are, and what we perceive is required for our survival. The reconstruction period ten years after the war, commonly referred to as the Dark Days--as the country of Panem struggles back to its feet--provides fertile ground for characters to grapple with these questions and thereby define their views of humanity."
Rumors of a potential spin-off first appeared in 2015, and two years later, Lionsgate confirmed that it was keen to make more movies if Collins was involved. The film series kicked off in 2012 with The Hunger Games, which was followed by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay--Part 1 (2014), and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay--Part 2 (2015).
The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling have had trials and tribulations getting their all-women's wrestling promotion off the ground and onto television. The latest season of Netflix's Glow will follow the performers all the way to Las Vegas.
When the show debuted, Season 1 followed them learning to wrestle, leading up to their first show, and Season 2 revolved around the wrestling promotion airing on local television, then getting moved to a terrible time slot. Now, the women of Glow doing their show in Las Vegas, and hey, is that Gina Davis? Check out the trailer for the new season above.
Now headlining the Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino, each individual of Glow is dealing with their own personal issues. Debbie (Betty Gilpin) continues to serve as a producer on the show, but it's clear that being in Vegas has separated her from her child. And Ruth (Allison Brie) continues to try to juggle work and a relationship with a former GLOW cameraman. There are a lot of sub-plots teased within the new season as well.
And yes, that is Gina Davis in the trailer. She'll be playing Sandy Devereaux St. Clair, the entertainment director of the Fan-Tan Hotel, and at one time, she was a showgirl in Vegas. Aside from the trailer above, not much else is known about the character or how much she'll be a part of Season 3.
Sadly, fans of the Netflix series will have to wait for more Glow until August 9 for the new season to debut. Hopefully, in this new season, we'll get some more wrestler cameos like we did in Season 1 and 2.
Adapted from the manga series of the same name, Alita: Battle Angel is the story of a cyborg whose looks are deceiving. She may be small, but she has the ability to rip out your spine if need be. The feature-length film released back in February, and next month, the movie will get a home release loaded with special features.
On July 9, Alita: Battle Angel will get a digital release and on July 23, physical copies will arrive on 4K, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-Ray, and DVD. Each version of the movie is packed with special features. In the video above from the "Allies and Adversaries" section--which details the creation of each of these characters for the film--the cast, production, and director talk about adapting the movie's villain, Grewishka, for the big screen, from digitally mapping him to actor Jackie Earle Haley playing the part. "Coming here, and doing performance capture, playing a 9-foot-tall cyborg that's completely CG, and It was truly a unique experience," explained Haley.
The digital edition of the movie has the most bang for your buck, containing everything that is in both the DVD and Blu-ray version of the movie, in addition to coming out a couple weeks before the physical release. Some of the highlights contained within the special features are James Cameron's original concept art from back in 2005 with new voiceover, the previously mentioned "Allies and Adversaries," and an in-depth look at Motorball, Iron City's favorite sport.
Below, you'll find the full list of special features for each version of the home release of Alita: Battle Angel. If you want more on Battle Angel, check out our interview with director Robert Rodriguez about his cameo in the movie, as well as his explanation of why the main character's eyes are so big.
DVD/Blu-ray/Digital Features
Alita's World Featurette: The Fall, Iron City, What it means to be a Cyborg, and Rules of the game
From Manga to screen feature
Blu-ray/Digital Features
Evolution of Alita
Motorball
James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez, and cast Q&A
2005 Art Compilation
Scene Deconstruction: I don't even know my own name, Just an insignificant girl, I'm a warrior, aren't I?, and Kansas Bar
Digital Features
Musical Themes
Tour of Streets of Iron City: Iron City, Scrapyard, Ido's Clinic, Cathedral, Ambush Alley, Vector's Office and the Factory, and Kansas Bar
Allies and Adversaries: Zapan, Dr. Ido, Grewishka, Nyssiana, Romo, McTeague, Vector, Chiren, and Hugo
Final Fantasy XIV fans should head over to Amazon, because the retailer is offering a free Fat Black Chocobo Mount DLC along with any game listed at $20 or more for the rest of June. Note that this even applies to games that are currently discounted below $20, so long as the list price is high enough. The deal follows up on E3 2019, where Square Enix revealed FFXIV's upcoming, third expansion: Shadowbringers, which launches on July 3. That pairs most naturally with purchasing a time card for playing FFXIV itself, but if you're already stocked up on MMO subscriptions, you can instead grab the DLC along with nearly any game or accessory. We've listed a few highlights below.
Shadowbringers is the third major expansion for Square Enix's nearly decade-running MMORPG, and director Naoki Yoshida promised during the E3 reveal that it would contain as much new content as a standalone RPG. That includes the new gunbreaker class, the rabbit-like Viera as a new playable race, an increased level cap, and a New Game+ mode that lets players go through old missions again while retaining their progress. Perhaps most exciting, however, was the reveal that Shadowbringers includes a collaboration with Nier: Automata's auteur creative director, Yoko Taro, in the YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse 24-player raid, which is set in his game's world.
Square Enix's E3 2019 presentation featured a healthy dose of Final Fantasy all around, including more gameplay footage from the hotly-anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake. The studio also revealed Trials of Mana, a full 3D remake of the SNES cult curio (in the west, at least) Seiken Densetsu 3, which marks the game's first English-language release. It will arrive on Switch, PS4, and PC in early 2020.
Bethesda launched a new Fallout 76 game mode at E3 2019 as a "beta sneak peek," but has now extended it indefinitely. The Nuclear Winter mode brought the popular battle royale genre to Bethesda's online game, and now the studio has announce it will remain available.
When first announced, it seemed Nuclear Winter would be a limited-time mode only available during the free trial period. But in an update on the Fallout 76 blog, the company says "the pre-beta sneak peek of Nuclear Winter will remain on and continue to receive updates."
The note also made a point to thank the fans for their enthusiasm in trying out the new mode.
"We've been blown away by the reactions and responses we've been seeing all week to Nuclear Winter. It has been so amazing to read all your experiences and see everything you've been sharing. There are so many incredible up-and-coming Overseers! Vault 51 is lucky."
Fallout 76 had a rocky launch, but Bethesda has been committed to maintaining it with regular updates. Todd Howard also opened up recently about its early struggles and what he would have done differently.
At E3, Bethesda also announced an upcoming expansion that will add human NPCs for the first time. There's still a special E3-themed bundle for sale as well through July 8, which lets you get extra in-game currency and some other bonuses for cheaper than the usual conversion rate.
In a new video feature, GameSpot's Jess McDonell looks at Massive's The Division 2 specifically and how the studio has gone about supporting the ongoing game and interacting with its community. Jess speaks with Massive community developers Petter Mårtensson and Christoph Gansler about how they engage with and incorporate player feedback with the live service game.
You can watch the full video above, while the entire Q&A is available below featuring joint responses from Gansler and Mårtensson. In it, the developers talked about the value of transparency in The Division 2's development, how to manage player feedback, and how to maintain a constantly evolving online game.
Gansler and Mårtensson also discuss the hot-button issue of crunch, which is an industry term for the practice of developers working overly long hours to finish milestones.
GameSpot: How important is player feedback to what ends up in the game?
Gansler and Mårtensson: Player feedback is very important to us at Massive Entertainment. We're always monitoring social channels and forums such as Reddit and YouTube to see what the players are saying about the game. We want our community to know that we see the development of The Division 2 as an ongoing relationship. That said, we and the players don't always agree on everything. We need to constantly have a holistic view of what goes in and what goes out of the game. But we discuss the feedback we get on a daily basis.
When it comes to developing The Division 2 and incorporating player feedback, how strongly do you agree or disagree with the alleged Henry Ford quote: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."
"We learned a lot from the first game that we took with us into The Division 2."
As developers, we must have a 360-degree view of the game. Our designers and production teams know the game intimately. They know what's feasible and what's not feasible, and they know how certain changes that are being requested would or wouldn't work practically. Sometimes feedback can be laser-focused on a specific aspect of the game that, if changed, could have much bigger implications that you don't directly see. At the same time, many of our players also know the game very well, so nothing is discarded.
In addition, we have a lotof data from the game. We have a great data analytics team that works together with our user researchers and the community team. Together, they see how our players play the game and sometimes the loudest complaints are not reflected in reality.
Has your perspective of how to respond to or implement player feedback changed from The Division 1 to The Division 2?
We learned a lot from the first game that we took with us into The Division 2. Updates 1.4 and 1.8 for The Division were largely based on player feedback and we even brought community members to our studios for workshops on the game's development (big shout out to all our Elite Task Force members!). That mindset is something that we took with us to the second game.
How often are highly requested features implemented?
For every title update we've released for The Division 2, we try to implement various features or tweaks that have been requested by the community. Some requests take longer to implement of course, but we have some cool stuff coming up that community members have discussed and requested that I won't spoil now.
There are thousands of suggestions across your official forums and the Division 2 subreddit. Where is the line between seeing highly requested features and what can practically be implemented, whether that be for volume or technical reasons?
That line can be difficult to draw. As mentioned earlier, we look at all the feedback we get, see if it's something that we believe would make the game better, if it's technically possible to implement, and then decide based on those factors.
"We can't always answer every question or respond to every criticism, which of course can be frustrating for some, but we try to talk to our players as much as we possibly can"
Even when your community doesn't agree with certain mechanics or changes, they seem to have an incredible amount of respect for how consistently they are heard and communicated with. Was this always the plan? How do you practically maintain that open line of communication?
We are fortunate to have a passionate community team that has a frequent dialogue with our players. Our Twitch channel is our main tool, where we do our weekly State of the Game livestreams. We also do gameplay streams since that's a great avenue for us to just sit down, play the game and talk directly to our community.
We can't always answer every question or respond to every criticism, which of course can be frustrating for some, but we try to talk to our players as much as we possibly can. The community team also has a close relationship with the developers themselves and information flows both ways as a result. Myself and Chris, the community developers for the game, sit smack down in the middle of the Live Team and are in constant communication with them to make sure we know everything that is going on.
And yes, this was always a part of the plan. State of the Game has been running for a long time, from before the first game even launched, and we have no plans to stop doing it. The community interaction has been incredibly important for all of us working on the game. Many of our developers show up on our streams or interact with fans on Twitter and other social channels.
Can you offer some examples of things that have changed in the game as a result of player feedback?
For the first game, Update 1.4 was eye-opening for us. For The Division 2, the drawbacks on weapon mods were very controversial within the community and we ended up removing them from the game.
Can you offer some examples of things that have not changed, despite player suggestions to alter them, and the thinking behind this?
We had planned to increase the Gear Score in the game from 500 to 515, with the latter only available in the Dark Zones. In the end, we decided to not go through with that change, which frustrated some players that were looking forward to it. We understand them, but with a series of PvE and PvP changes in our latest title update (Title Update 3), we want to improve the Dark Zone experience and make it more fun and rewarding. That said, we felt that keeping the gear score at 500 was for the best, from a game experience standpoint, as it is too early to introduce higher gear score items at this time.
How do you manage when your audience is divided in what they want out of the game (for example lowering versus maintaining the current mission difficulty)? With whom does the final decision sit on whether something should or shouldn't be implemented?
The final decision sits with the directors, designers and the production teams. As mentioned earlier, we need to always figure out if a change is positive and realistic. The community can absolutely be split when it comes to certain topics, but in the end, we must make decisions based on those factors. The sad reality is that there will always be people who are disappointed with any changes to the game, something that comes with every live game. You can't please everyone, but we hope people know that everything we do, we do for the overall betterment of the game.
To what degree is this communication or transparency a virtue (or a problem) for the development team?
Sometimes things go wrong, and we don't believe in hiding from our mistakes. We're human and mistakes happen. Transparency is very important for us; it's part of the DNA of the project. Of course, we can't talk about everything, even if we'd want to. That's just the reality of game's design and the business. Again, referring to Update 1.4 for the first game – that's when we truly learned how important transparency can be, how important it is for our relationship with our players. That informed us moving forward.
It's a virtue because the whole team is behind it. The problems arise when we have things we can't talk about for whatever reasons. That can cause frustrations since players want answers to their questions. It's a fine line to walk. You don't want to over promise and under deliver, for example.
Does having a constantly evolving online game change the way you view the developer/player relationship?
Yes and no. This relationship is natural to us now. Of course, it changes over time, especially with new tools becoming available and new social platforms and groups popping up. Recently, we set up our own official Discord server and, all-of-a-sudden, we have a new tool to gather feedback, get a sense of the community mood and directly talk to our players in ways we couldn't before. Having a live game means staying dynamic – when it comes to developing the game, as well as for how we communicate. Over time, I hope we can become even closer to our players in new and creative ways.
"We're human and mistakes happen. Transparency is very important for us; it's part of the DNA of the project."
What are the unique challenges and advantages to having a constantly evolving game?
The challenges and advantages lie in that dynamic setting. There are things happening all the time, but not everything is visible to the players. Small changes can inadvertently become huge changes, and vice versa. We need to be at the top of our game constantly, monitor what is happening in the game and in the community and react accordingly. It can be hard, but extremely rewarding too. It's a team effort and our live and production teams are taking on that challenge on a daily basis.
How do you manage the swings between positivity and negativity that come from the community?
We do our very best to communicate, listen and be as transparent as possible. We talk to our players as much as we can, even if it's not always possible. We gather all the feedback, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Those swings are a natural part of communities, but overall The Division community has been a supporting and welcoming place for a long time now. We also know that feedback always comes from the love of the game, so even if it's something negative, players just want the game to be better. We appreciate that.
How much do you try and implement with each update and how do you manage constant rebalancing and bug fixing?
We try to implement the updates as much as we can, within the limits we have. For Title Update 3 that we just released, for example, we made a series of balance changes while also fixing hundreds of bugs – some visible to the players, some not. We're not slowing down, and our different teams are 100 percent dedicated to making The Division 2 even bigger and better. It's an ongoing process, but with the knowledge we have from releasing and operating the first game, we're in a good position to take this game to new heights.
In regards to reports that online, evolving games require constant ongoing development, do your development teams undergo periods of crunch and what are your thoughts on the practice?
When it comes to developing online, evolving games or game-as-a-service, there is less ramp up and ramp down time than during traditional game production. The team working on The Division 2 has managed to respect a healthy work-life balance throughout the project. We're actively working to prevent teams working overtime, and when it does happen we have very clear rules and communication about the practice. For example, overtime is always paid in accordance with Swedish work regulations. And HR follows up with every team member individually to assess workload and find solutions to strike the right balance.
At Massive, we are intent on providing a healthy and enriching work environment with the goal of keeping our team members with us for 10 years or more. Work-life balance is essential if we want to attract and retain the best talent to continue developing games on the same scale and quality as The Division 2. We were rated as one of Sweden's most attractive employers amongst young professionals in 2018, so we're pleased with how our efforts are paying off so far.
Quest director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz confirmed the existence of multiple endings in an interview with YongYea at E3 2019. For context, The Witcher 3 had three major endings; which one you arrive at depends on the choices you make during the campaign. Tomaszkiewicz did not say how many endings Cyberpunk 2077 will have apart from confirming there will be multiple ways the story can end.
Also in the interview, Tomaszkiewicz confirms that players can go through the entire campaign without using any augmentations besides the two that are automatically assigned to you during the Prologue. The rest of the augmentations are optional.
The developer also confirmed that CD Projekt Red is considering adding a Photo Mode, though it is "hard to tell" if it will happen. CD Projekt Red is considering it "seriously," Tomaszkiewicz said. This is a big difference from September 2018 when the developers said they were planning for Cyberpunk 2077 to have a Photo Mode.
Tomaszkiewicz added that the studio is also not committing to a level cap for Cyberpunk 2077 just yet.
PS4 and Xbox One exclusives littered the UK all-format physical sales chart for the week ending June 15, but it was Electronic Arts' FIFA 19 that still prevailed in the No. 1 slot. In a quiet week for new releases, PlayStation exclusives Days Gone and Spider-Man maintained their respective positions of No. 2 and No. 3.
The week in question saw no new games hit the UK top 40, and it was a week focused on news of upcoming games thanks to E3 2019. FIFA 20 will likely be a big hitter in the UK when that launches in September, for example, while PES 2020 was also revealed. For all the news from the world's biggest games show, check out our awards for the best of E3 2019.
You can read the full top 10 sales chart for this week below, courtesy of UKIE and GfK Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.
Pixar's latest movie, Toy Story 4, opens in theatres this weekend. Ahead of that, reviews for the animated film have started to appear online, and they're largely very positive.
To help you get an idea about if the movie is worth your time and money, we're collecting excerpts from reviews from a variety of outlets across the internet. Scroll down to see a sampling of these, and maybe it'll help you decide if you want to see the film or not.
You can also check out this silly video in which Tom Hanks, who voices Woody, speaks to Jimmy Kimmel about all the things he's supposed to say--and not say--when giving interviews about Toy Story 4.
You can see a rundown of Toy Story 4 reviews below, while more information on the film's critical reception can be found on GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
Toy Story 4
Directed By: Josh Cooley
Written By: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Josh Cooley, Valerie LaPointe, Rashida Jones, Will McCormack, Martin Hynes, Stephany Folsom
Starring (the voices of): Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Keanu Reeves, Joan Cusack, Christina Hendricks, Patricia Arquette, Jordan Peele, Annie Potts, Timothy Dalton, Betty White, Wallace Shawn, Keegan-Michael Key, Jeff Garlin, Don Rickles, Mel Brooks, Bonnie Hunt, Carl Weathers
Release Date: June 21 (United States)
The Guardian
"It may only be a repeat of earlier ideas and plotlines, but compare it to the fourth films in other franchises and Pixar's latest is an amusing and charming gem." -- Peter Bradshaw [Full review]
Chicago Sun-Times
"If this movie doesn't touch your heart, you'd have to be as lifeless as the toys pretend to be when humans are in the vicinity." -- Richard Roeper [Full review]
New York Post
"Unfortunately, knowing the characters as well as we do now, and with a finite amount of mischief that miniature toys can get up to, Toy Story 4 at times feels more like a high-budget episode of television than a sweeping film." -- Johnny Oleksinski [Full review]
The Hollywood Reporter
"With some Pixar franchises having worn out their welcome and lent the impression of a capitulation to Disney's desire for more sequels at the price of less preparation and care, this one conveys the confident feel of a creation that, as a big man used to say, has not been served before its time." -- Todd McCarthy [Full review]
The Los Angeles Times
"Toy Story 4 will blow you away in ways you won't be expecting. It's something new from a computer-animated series so antediluvian that director Josh Cooley was in high school when the Pixar original came out back in 1995." -- Kenneth Turan [Full review]
The Wrap
"After the unalloyed triumph that was Toy Story 3, did we need another sequel to the popular Pixar series? Not really. Now that Toy Story 4 exists, does it tarnish the reputation of a franchise that is the gold standard in contemporary American animation? Not in the slightest." -- Alonso Duralde [Full review]
This year's new Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix will be rated R, director Todd Phillips has confirmed. Not only that, but the director shared a new image from the set that shows Phoenix looking into a mirror applying his Joker makeup.
Regarding the rating, Phillips said in reply to a fan on his Instagram post, "It will be rated R. I've been asked about this a lot. Just assumed people knew."
The way he said it, Phillips seems certain the new Joker film will be rated R. However, the MPAA--which decides ratings in America--has yet to issue an official rating.
The R stands for Restricted. According to the MPAA, an R-rated movie "contains some adult material." People under the age of 17 cannot see an R-rated movie without a parent or adult guardian accompanying them.
As for the new image, it shows Phoenix and multiple mirrors. The makeup was done by Nicki Ledermann. It's a lovely image, and you might get to see more behind-the-scenes shots. In the comments of his Instagram post, Phillips said the team would "love" to release some sort of photo book of stills. The image was shot by Niko Tavernise, who Phillips says is "truly one of the best still photographers working in movies; we were so lucky to have him on set."
Joker opens in theatres on October 4. It's something of a change for director Todd Phillips, who previously made the the Hangover and Old School comedies. He also wrote for Borat, which earned him his Oscar nomination.
Joker also stars Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, and Frances Conroy.
The latest box office report is in, and the weekend's biggest new release, Men in Black: International, won the weekend but it was overall a commercial disappointment.
The spinoff starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson was never expected to perform as well as the earlier films. It made an estimated $28.5 million in the United States and Canada for its opening weekend, according to box office numbers from Entertainment Weekly.
That's below the $52.1 million that the last movie, Men in Black II, made when it opened in 2002. The original Men in Black from 1997 made $51 million over its opening weekend. Those movies starred Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the lead roles.
Some people got upset about this because the studio, Ys Net, had originally said the game would be available on Steam. The game is still coming to Steam, but not until 12 months after its release on the Epic Games Store. Now, developer Ys Net has responded to the outcry, but only in a preliminary way.
In a post to the game's Kickstarter page, Ys Net said it hears the concerns of fans. Representatives from the studio were in Los Angeles for E3 where they showing off the game, but when they return to home base they'll look into how to "find a way forward" as it relates to explaining to fans that their faith in the studio can be upheld.
"We want to make sure that the Backers are aware that we are listening to their concerns," reads a line from the update. "We kindly ask all our fans to have some patience, we are currently at E3 demoing the game and need to get back to our respective offices to assess the situation and together find a way forward to justify the trust you placed in us."
Shenmue III is also coming to PlayStation 4. The Shenmue III release date is set for November 19. A new trailer was released during E3; check it out in the video embed above.
Sarah Needleman's new profile of Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney for The Wall Street Journal covers a wide variety of topic about the Fortnite boss's life and career. Among those are how Epic convinced Sony to finally allow cross-play, how much the man is reportedly worth, how much money Fortnite makes from microtransactions, what food he likes best, and lots more. The full report is well worth a read, and we're highlighting a few of the big points.
Starting with cross-play, WSJ reports that Sweeney spent six months in 2018 calling and emailing the leadership at PlayStation and Xbox to try to convince them to unlock cross-play. The conversations were intense, it seems.
"An effort in international diplomacy," Sweeney said. "Given the long-term rivalries, it was a series of contentious discussions."
Microsoft and Nintendo started allowing cross-play in Fortnite and other titles beginning in June 2018, but Sony held out.
After cross-play support went live between Xbox One and Nintendo Switch for Fortnite, WSJ reports that Sweeney shared data with Sony that apparently demonstrated that cross-play "dramatically" increased engagement. This might have been part of what contributed to Sony eventually unlocking cross-play.
In September 2018, Sony finally agreed to cross-play, beginning with Fortnite. "It was one of the greatest moments in Epic's history," Sweeney said. "I was pleased and tired."
Moving on, the piece also reveals that Fortnite has generated $3.9 billion in revenue from microtransactions, according to numbers from research firm SuperData. Sweeney himself is worth $7 billion, according to the Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.
He's been wealthy for a long time; by the age of 30 he owned a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. People who didn't know him thought he was a drug dealer, he told WSJ.
He's now 48, and he says he lives a "fairly simple life," noting that he is single, unmarried, and has no kids. He enjoys spending his down time hiking. Related to that, he has spent hundreds of millions of dollars buying up land (more than 45,000 acres so far!) in his home state of North Carolina for conversation efforts.
Also in the piece, Sweeney says his favorite food is fried chicken from Bojangles because "it strikes the perfect balance between tasty food and time commitment." He also said he enjoys the fact that Epic Games is in North Carolina because it's far away from the influence of "Silicon Valley groupthink," according to WSJ.
Game of Thrones actress Lena Headey has come forward to respond to how the hit HBO fantasy show wrapped up the fate of her character, Cersei. You can see her full quotes down below the image; beware, these are significant spoilers.
Cersei and her brother-lover Jaime died in Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5 when they were crushed under rubble during Daenerys' assault on King's Landing. Many fans remarked that her death scene left much to be desired, and it turns out that Headey also wanted something different.
She told The Guardian that she hopes to catch up with Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff over a few drinks, at which time she'll tell them she wanted Cersei to die another way.
"I invested as a viewer and I have my favourite characters. And I've got a few of my own gripes. But I haven't sat down drunkly with David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] yet." She said she'll tell Weiss and Benioff, "I wanted a better death."
Over the years, Game of Thrones has aired some gut-wrenching and climatic death scenes, but Cersei's lacked the same kind of emotional punch in the eyes of some viewers. Headey admits that no death scene will please everyone, but she still wished for something more.
"Obviously you dream of your death," she said. "You could go in any way on that show. So I was kind of gutted. But I just think they couldn't have pleased everyone. No matter what they did, I think there was going to be some big comedown from the climb."
Overall, though, Headey said she enjoyed the years she spent working on Game of Thrones. "It was amazing," she said. "And things end and you move on."
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