That’s a lot of pressure to put on any game (even the latest entry in a proven franchise from an incredible studio), but considering that it could be a while before we get another major PS5 exclusive from a PlayStation Studios team, it makes sense that so many PS5 owners (and prospective PS5 owners) are treating Rift Apart as our clearest look yet at the future of console gaming. Does Rift Apart live up to those lofty expectations?...

Seven animation studios have come together to create Star Wars: Visions, a collection of nine anime short films that reimagines the galaxy far, far away through the lens of Japanese culture and aesthetics. It’s one of the most ambitious projects Lucasfilm has ever embarked on with the saga, and it’s an experiment that largely pays off, as it not only brings fresh perspectives to Star Wars but also new characters, from the mysterious swordsman known only as Ronin to a little droid named T0-B1 who wants nothing more than to become a real Jedi Knight....

Matt Reeves’ The Batman does not have a post-credits scene—technically speaking. When the credits roll on the final shot of a sad yet determined Batman riding into Gotham’s twilight, the show is over and you’re free to leave your seat (or hit “stop” if you’re now watching it at home courtesy of HBO Max). Unlike most modern superhero movies, there is no teaser or easter egg after the credits begin....

The Invisible Man is an excellent horror film packed with shocks and scares and with a fun ending which contains several twists. But it’s possible director Leigh Whannell might have intended to pull the rug out from under the viewer one last time, offering the opportunity for a very different alternative reading of what actually happens to Cecilia. In the ending we see onscreen, Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) escapes the institution she’s locked in, is cleared of killing her sister and is able to exact a fitting revenge on her abusive husband Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) with the help of her friend James (Aldis Hodge) who finally believes she was being tortured by her invisible ex....

At least, this Bond, the one played by Daniel Craig, is dead. He’s also the Bond who we first met beating up a guy in a toilet in the moody black and white opening of Casino Royale. And with him dies the first properly 21st-century take on Bond, hailed as a complete reinvention of the character despite being written by the same screenwriters who supposedly killed the franchise in fans’ minds with Die Another Day (not to mention Johnny English, but we’ll come to that later)....

The second season of the animated series Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, released on Netflix on Jan. 22, answered a lot of lingering questions from season one. But another cliffhanger ending has left fans roaring for more. With a whole island to explore and a few years of blank timeline between Jurassic World and Fallen Kingdom, the creative team has a lot of elements to play around with. What do we think we’ll see if Netflix spares no expense and gives us a third season?...

Last week, we lost two screen legends in the span of 24 hours. Den of Geek has written extensively on the one that touched the heart of nearly every child for the last 35 years, but the other loss was equally profound: Lauren Bacall, one of the last great movie stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age, passed away just a month shy of her 90th birthday. Often described as simply “the voice,” this is the woman who possessed that confidence-annihilating siren call; a quintessential femme fatale who somehow never proved fatal....

Legends of Tomorrow Season 6 Episode 4 “Bay of Squids” is a perfect illustration of the line DC’s Legends of Tomorrow walks with every episode. It is very, very stupid, but it’s not even the first time this month that a Legends episode was dumb, and last week was one of the best episodes of the show ever. But in order for it to get away with being this dumb, everything about it has to hit just right....

Marcus Thurwell, you old bastard. You get, what, four mentions by name in series three? We’ve never even seen your face before today (ahoy there, Mr James Nesbitt), and now you’re our chief suspect in the search for the Fourth Man. Oh, what fools you’ve made us look. Fans have spent the last five years sizing up every inspector, sniffer dog and lampshade in Central Police as a potential H, and now we learn that he likely retired in 2005 and has been masterminding the lot while sipping a chilled Estrella Damm on the Costa del Crime....

“Believe it or not, The Silence of the Lambs was released on Valentine’s Day in 1991. The movie was scheduled for release in the middle of February because Orion Pictures, its distributor, already had a can’t-miss hit with Dances With Wolves, and they wanted to give Kevin Costner as little competition as possible for the 1991 awards season.” Read more at Mental Floss. After an outpouring of support from her female Buffy and Angel co-stars, a few men have spoken out in support of Charisma Carpenter as well....

“It was just over a year ago, right at the start of the global pandemic we’re all still living through, that our collective obsession with Animal Crossing: New Horizons consumed us… A year later, Cozy Grove feels like the natural spiritual successor to ACNH, based on where we are now vs. where we all were then.” Read more at The Mary Sue. NBC’s streaming service Peacock has reportedly acquired the broadcast rights for the Eurovision semifinals and finals....

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was originally published in 1997. Although the book series made a splash upon its release, it wasn’t until the film came out in 2001 that Harry Potter really began its ascent into the mainstream pop culture stratosphere. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, unknown children at the time of the premiere of Chris Columbus’s film, quickly became household names. Author J.K. Rowling herself—and her rags to riches legend—was elevated to a sort of godlike figure by Harry Potter-loving diehards....

“Reviewing the latest and greatest video games before they’re released is a dream job for anyone who grew up enchanted by the glow of a computer monitor or console. that’s a dream that’s quickly shattered for women in the field once they publish their first review.” Read more at Inverse. Nicolas Cage’s upcoming Netflix series will have the acclaimed actor explain the origins of the English language’s most popular swear words....

“Fans of the Fast and Furious on ‘Fast Fridays’ can watch all eight films leading up to the summer release of F9 for free! Starting Friday, April 30, 2021, and every subsequent until June 18, theaters will show the Fast and Furious movies in chronological order. Movie chains like AMC, Regal, and Cinemark are participating along with 500 theaters across the country.” Read more at Gizmodo. From Stephen King’s Rage to the Encyclopædia Britannica, here are five books that are unlikely to be printed again....

“As first reported by Rotten Tomatoes Awards Editor Jacqueline Coley, the Judas and the Black Messiah Oscar winner confirmed he is not reprising the role of W’Kabi in Marvel’s Black Panther follow-up, the first Marvel film featuring the titular superhero without the late Chadwick Boseman.” Read more at IndieWire Despite some controversy surrounding the last time he worked on a Disney property, Alden Ehrenreich has joined the cast of the upcoming Marvel TV series Ironheart....

“Paramount Pictures just dropped enough news to fill a whole year’s worth of Hall H Comic-Con panels. Transformers, Star Trek, Sonic, Ninja Turtles, Halo, Quiet Place, and more all had significant news revealed during a company investors’ call Tuesday, and here’s how it broke down.” Read more at Gizmodo Two lucky winners will receive (2) Tickets for The Ocean at the End of the Lane! (MUST BE IN THE U....

This is the first of several listening events being hosted by In The Dark Radio this weekend; technically, it’s a trial run, with members of the press serving as guinea pigs before the event opens to the public. It’s cold in the crypt, and there’s a nervousness in the air as we wait for the drama to begin. At first, as the play starts, I’m staring at the dim silhouettes of the strangers sitting opposite me, but after a few minutes, I decide it’s pointless and close my eyes....

Marvel’s Loki episode 2, “The Variant” is all about exactly what you think it is: uncovering the mystery of who the murderous Loki variant the TVA is tracking. And the ending of Loki episode 2 does exactly that…or does it? While we’re certainly meant to believe on first glance that the mysterious and magical woman under the hood is simply a female variant of Loki, and there is plenty of precedent for Loki’s genderfluid nature in the comics, there’s just enough ambiguity (and even a little bit of evidence) to point to the fact that “Lady Loki” might not be “Lady Loki” at all....

Now that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gotten all timey-wimey, it’s not so simple to keep track of this massive franchise’s order of events. With Loki, the latest Marvel TV show to premiere on Disney+, Phase Four is delving even further into time travel, a narrative concept first properly introduced to the MCU in Avengers: Endgame when our titular heroes traveled back into their own timelines to collect the Infinity Stones needed to defeat Thanos....

Lucifer Season 6 Episode 9 “Where’s a goddamn celestial when you need one.” In its series’ penultimate episode, “Goodbye, Lucifer,” Lucifer presents a powerful examination of the fate vs free will debate as Lucifer does his best to avoid abandoning Chloe and their unborn daughter Rory. Time travel, time loops, body jumping, end-of-the-world apocalypse – it’s all here as the series eschews its traditional witty one-liners for some resolute reflection in a moment of existential crisis....