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Articles by Tommy Durbin
A New Bill In Congress Could Let Players Own Their Digital Games
Representative Ritchie Torres of New York’s 15th Congressional District has introduced the ‘Power to the Players Act’, which would make it so that players actually, you know, own the games they buy. From Torres, “consumers must have the right to own, the right to play, and the right to transfer the games they buy. A game that can be taken away the moment a company pulls the plug is not a purchase.
Blumhouse Working On 'Amanda The Adventurer' Adaptation
YouTuber Matthew Patrick, better known online as MatPat of the various theory channel fame, is teaming up with Blumhouse to bring a movie adaptation of the well received Amanda the Adventurer indie games to the big screen. The original game follows a woman named Riley as she discovers some old VHS tapes in the attic of a house that was left to her by her late aunt, which have episodes of a Dora the Explorer-esque low-budget kids’ show that slowly becomes more sinister than it appears.
James Gunn And Peter Safran Are Still At Warner Bros. For Now
The movie industry is ever changing. Basically, unless you’re somebody with the star power of Walt Disney, any higher-up at a studio is subject to the whims of their bosses and, especially, the box office. With the shaky theater attendance, rise of the streaming service, and the even more important rise of AI, among many other factors, people who were darlings for one studio aren’t always secure in their job. Nowhere does this show up more than the corporate merger. With Paramount and Warner Bros.
Eleventh 'Saw' Movie To Be Directed By Mike P. Nelson
But one can never keep a good, profitable horror franchise down. We’re now officially set to get Saw XI. Mike P. Nelson, who recently directed the Silent Night, Deadly Night remake, is set to direct. More interestingly, Leigh Whannel and James Wan are set to produce. The two of them created the groundbreaking original film, so if anybody has a vested interest in making the film as good as possible, it’s them.
‘The Return Of The King’ The Video Game: A Retrospective
The game opens in the last moments of the battle of Helms Deep. You as Gandalf arrive with the Rohirrim to break the siege and drive the Uruk-Hai back. It does what any good opening level should: it gets you invested in the action right away, and introduces all of the gaming mechanics you’ll need to know (speed attacks, strong attacks, blocking, ranged attacks, movement, etc.) in a quick, simple way.
Internet Hit 'Siren Head' Set To Become A Warner Bros. Movie Headed By Brian Duffield And Zach Cregger
Unlike characters such as evil Sonic from Sonic.exe and Jeff the Killer, Siren Head doesn’t have as much lore surrounding him. It will be interesting to see what the story is, since the filmmakers aren’t fully constrained by a major fandom story. They can go in all kinds of directions with it. Whether it will be as successful as Backrooms remains to be seen, but with the backing of a major studio and some modern powerhouses in horror, the odds are good. So far no release date has been set.
A Jeff The Killer Movie Is In the Works From TikTok Creator Savanah Moss Tongal
TikTok creator Savannah Moss and creator-led movie studio Tongal are teaming up to make a Jeff the Killer movie. It will be fascinating to see how it all ends up. Jeff the Killer has had a long life on the internet, and the lore surrounding the character has evolved and expanded across the nearly twenty years people have been telling his story. A big question is how faithful the movie will be to the original story, and what creative spins Moss will put on the lore.
Ranking Characters From 'The Amazing Digital Circus'
To say that the indie animated miniseries The Amazing Digital Circus was a hit would be an understatement. From a pilot with almost half a billion views, the most ever for an indie animation project, to a box office haul of over 38 million for its finale theatrical release, once again breaking records, The Amazing Digital Circus has been inarguably the biggest smash hit in YouTube animation. Part of the draw is its engaging, complex, and overall fun characters.
'Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age': A Retrospective
Lord of the Rings: The Third Age promotional artwork Image source: YouTube The Lord of the Rings has had some pretty solid video games over the years. From the game version of the trilogy to the Battle for Middle Earth games and the Shadow of War series, Tolkien fans have it pretty good. One overlooked gem is one that doesn’t deserve to be as obscure as it is. It has a great story, engaging gameplay, awesome combat, and is all around just fun.
'Nightmare On Elm Street' Is Officially Getting A Reboot From Paramount
Paramount has made a deal with the Wes Craven estate, and now it’s time to head back to Elm Street. So far no details have been released, other than that the upcoming film will be based off of the first movie. Whether that means that we’re getting a straight remake or a legacy sequel in the vein of the latest Halloween trilogy is anybody’s guess.
Original Luke Skywalker Screen-Used Lightsaber Sets World Record
The fact that it sold for so much is no surprise, even though it was only expected to sell for a still not insignificant sum of $2 million. Given that it’s one of the main props in arguably the most important and iconic scene in all of Star Wars, the bidding would be fierce. If Vader’s saber goes up for auction, we’ll probably see a bigger number. CultureSlate: Made by humans, for humans Please consider supporting our AI-free content via our Patreon page. READ NEXT:
Next 'V/H/S' Installment Story Line Released
The newer iteration of the V/H/S series is perfect for the kind of secretive government entity series that makes up the SCP Foundation. Seeing a handful of horror directors take on stories about individual anomalies, characters, and even containment breaches will be awesome. Unlike the last several films in the series which were released on the horror streaming service Shudder, this next installment is set for a 2027 theatrical release.
Steven Spielberg Wins Movie Rights For YouTube Horror Anthology 'The Mandela Catalogue'
The next example of this is the analogue horror hit The Mandela Catalogue, which first premiered on YouTube in 2021, takes place in Mandela County, Wisconsin, which is being threatened by demonic creatures called Alternates. The rights to the series were eventually won by United Artists, Amblin, and Amazon MGM Studios. Alex Kister, the original creator of the series, will direct. Legendary director Steven Spielberg is set to be one of the producers.
Rockstar Games Has Revealed The Price Of 'Grand Theft Auto VI'
The price increase makes sense. The game is reported to have cost somewhere between 1-2 billion dollars, making it the most expensive entertainment product in history, though no official budget has been released. If those reports are accurate, it would make sense that the cost of the game would be higher to recoup that budget. If we split the difference and suppose that the game cost 1.5 billion to make, then Rockstar would need to sell almost 19 million copies of the base game to break even.
Live-Action 'The Magic School Bus' Movie Starring Elizabeth Banks Is Announced
Now, as is the way of things in the modern era, we’re getting a live-action version. The project has been in development since 2020, but it’s starting to gain traction again. Hunger Games star Elizabeth Banks has been attached to the role as Ms. Frizzle, and the project has a new director. Rob Letterman, best known for Detective Pikachu, has been tapped to direct and write the film.
Amazon's 'The Lord Of The Rings' MMO Game Shelved After Three Years Of Development
We didn’t get a lot of information about what it was going to be about, but there is hope that we’ll get a good Lord of the Rings game from Amazon. According to Amazon’s Head of Games, Jeff Gratis, they are “continuing to explore a compelling new game experience that does justice to Tolkien’s world” and they are “working closely with Middle-earth and still excited about the IP.” What this means is anybody’s guess, and we won’t know until they announce a new game.
'The Battle For Middle-earth': A Retrospective
You have two choices: a good or an evil campaign. For the evil campaign, you start with Saruman building his army of Uruk-Hai in Isengard. Unlike the good campaign, where you play through the events of the trilogy, the evil campaign, fittingly enough, is what would happen if the bad guys won every battle. Amon Hen, Helm's Deep, Minas Tirith, everything goes Sauron’s way.
'Behind The Mask II: The Return Of Leslie Vernon' Is Officially In The Works
At a 20th anniversary screening of the original film at the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown LA, the original director and writer, Scott Glosserman and David J. Stieve, respectively, confirmed that after two decades, Leslie Vernon is returning to slash his way through more unfortunate people. Stars Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, and Robert Englund all return to reprise their roles as well, so that should be a delight.
'Scream 7' Will Have 4 Different Physical Media Releases Including Some Exclusives
A good slasher franchise never dies. On top of the usual DVD/Blu-Ray, we’re also getting a limited edition steelbook, plus an Amazon exclusive steelbook/Handmade by Robots Ghostface glow-in-the-dark figurine. It’s certainly a must-have for any fans of the franchise, though I will warn that the Amazon exclusive comes with a nearly $70.00 USD price tag, so it will be up to you if that’s worth it. As someone who ranks the original as one of my all time favorites, I’m hoping to pick this up one day.
‘Pokemon Z-A Review — CultureSlate
It removes a lot of the majesty and wonder of exploring different routes and towns that made the previous games so fun. Lumiose City is very well rendered, and there are some fun details like certain Pokemon outside of the wild zones just hanging out where you’d expect them to be, you can catch trubbish by any dumpster, for example. That’s a neat touch. There are also outdoor elevators that will take you onto the city roofs.
Spoiler-Free Review Of The 'KOTOR' Remake
But overall, I had a very good time playing this. It was mostly worth the wait, and it brought back a lot of the nostalgia I had for the game. I remember when I was a much younger lad, playing the original game over and over again, exploring the dark and light side paths, making new choices to see how it affected the game’s story and your relationships with your companions, and experiencing one of the best Star Wars stories we’ve ever gotten from a galaxy far, far away.
New Land & Creatures Set To Celebrate The 'Pokémon' 30th Anniversary — CultureSlate
Technically, we had our answer a little while back, thanks to leaks, but we now have an official announcement. The next Pokémon games, Winds and Waves. Taking place in a Polynesian Island-inspired region, it will be interesting to see how things develop. A new type of Pokémon has already been rumored, and island-hopping mechanics are looking interesting. there are three new starter Pokémon: Browt, the grass-type grumpy bird; Pombon, a fire-type Pomeranian; and Gecqua, a water-type lizard.
The 'Ebon Hawk' Finally Gets The 'LEGO Star Wars' Treatment — CultureSlate
LEGO builder Jonah Frost has constructed a LEGO version of the Ebon Hawk, the primary ship for the protagonists in the iconic Knights of the Old Republic games. The impressive model is not only looks great on the outside, but has a very detailed interior. It’s an impressive love letter to the most iconic ship in all of Star Wars video games. While there is no official LEGO set for the Ebon Hawk, we can only hope that one day LEGO will make an official one, ideally with a detailed interior.
Bluey: The Game Review — CultureSlate
Overall, this is one to skip. If you’re not a Bluey fan, you’re going to get nothing out of this, and if you are, it’s just going to irritate you how bland and soulless this game is. The absurd price tag and lack of content mean that this game isn’t worth getting. If it was a five dollar android game, it would be more forgivable, but as it stands, it’s more of an eye roll towards the fans instead of a love letter.
‘Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy’ A Retrospective — CultureSlate
If I had to describe this game in one word, it would be “popcorn.” It’s certainly not bad, but it doesn’t have any of the rich storytelling or emotional depth of some other Star Wars games. You start a level, kill everybody, maybe get a few seconds of plot before the next one, when you finish a block of levels, you get to do a plot relevant one, repeat until the end of the game. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
'Knights Of The Old Republic': A Retrospective — CultureSlate
The Star Wars universe has given rise to endless media from a galaxy far, far away. Books, movies, TV shows, toys, and, of course, video games. The saga has hundreds of games, ranging from small apps to major titles. They’ve varied in quality over the years, but arguably none of them are as beloved or have had as much impact as the Knights of the Old Republic games.
Sony Takes Majority Ownership Of 'Peanuts' In New Deal — CultureSlate
The deal is for Sony to buy the 41% stake that Canadian media company WildBrain holds in Peanuts Holdings LLC, which will give them an 80% holding, accounting for the 39% that they’d previously held. The family of Schultz owns the remaining 20%. The deal was for $630 CAD, or about $457 USD. There isn’t any indication yet of what Sony plans to do now that it has majority control. The last major Peanuts project was 2015’s The Peanuts Movie, which was both a commercial and critical success.
'LEGO Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight' Now Ready For Pre-Order — CultureSlate
Now we know when. The game will officially launch on May 29th, 2026, for PlayStation, Switch 2, Xbox, and PC. Preorders for the game have begun. The game follows Bruce Wayne from his early days training to become Batman through his career as the Dark Knight. It features skins and suits from the entirety of his history, including the Dark Knight trilogy, the 2022 Batman film, the Burton films, and even the Arkham games, to name a few.
Disney+ Is Not Proceeding With 'Holes' Reboot — CultureSlate
In an entertainment market overly saturated with remakes, sequels, and reboots, it’s not a huge surprise that not all of them make it through the creation process. Such is the case with the Disney+ reboot of the beloved film Holes.
Netflix's 'Assassin's Creed' Will Travel Back To Ancient Rome — CultureSlate
One of the most interesting parts of the Assassin’s Creed series is exploring various places and time periods. Ancient Egypt, the Golden Age of Piracy, Feudal Japan, the American Revolution, Ancient Greece, and on and on and on. It’s always fascinating to see the times and places that we don’t usually experience brought to life. When an Assassin’s Creed TV show was announced, the big question was where and when Netflix would set its new show.
Scarlett Johansson To Star In New 'Exorcist' Horror Film From Mike Flanagan — CultureSlate
But like I said: you can never keep a profitable horror franchise down. This time, Mike Flanagan has decided to take a crack at it, and he’s bringing a familiar face from the MCU with him. So far, nothing has been revealed about either Flanagan’s vision for the film or Johansson’s involvement. Flanagan isn’t the worst person to take the helm. Between Stephen King adaptations in Gerald’s Game and Dr. Sleep, as well as films like the critically underrated Hush, he knows how to make a good horror film.
Mass Effect: A Retrospective — CultureSlate
The original Mass Effect trilogy is one of the most beloved group of sci-fi adventure games in all of gaming. With a solid story, rich universe, fun gameplay and deep characters, it’s clear that a lot of love and care went into the series, and they remain highly beloved among the gaming community to this day. but how well do they hold up? The last game in the series came out in 2012, and since then we’ve only gotten the lukewarm reception of Andromeda.
Brand New Stories Planned For 'Mass Effect' TV Series — CultureSlate
Much like the upcoming Mass Effect 5, the show will be set in the future, following the events of the original trilogy. How far remains to be seen, but if it’s set in Citadel space a short time after the events of the games, Shepard and his/her choices regarding the Reapers will have to at least be acknowledged. Most players seem to go with the “destroy” ending, as it aligns most with Shepard, so it’s probable that if Shepard’s story is touched on, that’s the ending that they’ll go with.
New Information Revealed For 'Halloween: The Video Game' — CultureSlate
The next subgenre of horror games is undoubtedly the one centered around the slasher icon. We’ve already seen games around Leatherface and Jason, but we have upcoming games centered around characters like Pinhead, Art the Clown, and, of course, Michael Myers. Michael is getting two games, actually, one of them with the direct involvement of John Carpenter. For the one coming out sooner, we actually got some game footage dropped on, fittingly enough, Halloween.
'Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare' Review — CultureSlate
And so my quest continues. I’ve seen many killer childhood character films like this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one, among others. The day will come when I find a good one, one beyond “a bit fun.” I’m not looking for A-tier horror here, I just want something that I can look at and say “that was actually pretty solid.” That day will come. It has to. I’ve watched too many of these things not to accidentally run into a good one. Yes, the day will come.
Release Date Revealed For 'Terrifier: The ARTcade Game' — CultureSlate
The latest video game trend is giving horror icons their own games. Pinhead, Jason, Michael, and Leatherface all have games, or will have games. If they continue to be successes, more will doubtlessly come. One icon that’s getting added to the list is Art the Clown from the Terrifier films. However, unlike previous horror games, Terrifier: The ARTcade Game will be, well, an arcade-style game.
EA And NFL Reach Deal To Extend 'Madden' to 2030 — CultureSlate
For over twenty years, the Electronic Arts video game studio and the NFL have partnered to create the Madden football game. Named after the famed coach and color commentator John Madden, the game is the most well-known football simulator game out there, allowing you to be coach, owner, and player all in one. At its best, it’s really fun; at its worst, it’s really bad.
'Screamboat 2' Starts Production In 2026 And Adds Characters — CultureSlate
If you look at the history of slasher films, one of the things that you’ll see over and over again are sequels. Lots and lots of sequels. Sometimes the original didn’t even need to do that well critically or commercially to get another entry or two. We’re seeing this play out in real time with the “killer childhood character” trend that we have going.
'Screamboat' Review — CultureSlate
It’s not all good, though. He makes little noises throughout the film that eventually start to become really annoying. Also, sometimes the film can’t really seem to stick to a size for him. He seems to grow or shrink depending on the scenario, especially when it comes to what kinds of weapons he’s wielding at the moment. It can be a bit distracting. The kills themselves are… fine, I suppose. Nothing too great, and there are a few that are fake-looking enough that it took me out of the movie.
'Friday The 13th' Blu-ray Box Set From Scream Factory Going Out Of Print — CultureSlate
The Friday the 13th series is inarguably one of the most iconic in all of horror. Between the original ten films, a crossover with Freddy, a reboot, and tons of other outside materials, such as comics, the juggernaut known as Jason Voorhees has been hacking and slashing to massive cultural success for forty-five years.
'V/H/S/Halloween' Spoiler-Free Review — CultureSlate
There were some attempts at dark humor in the film, most notably in the aforementioned Fun Size. Nothing landed period. The attempts to be funny were so ridiculous that they swung back around to just being cringeworthy and eye-rolling. There were also several instances of “why would you do that/not do that?” in most of the segments, even the decent ones. It really didn’t help endear me to the cardboard characters.
New Documentary Focuses On The Ethics Of 'To Catch a Predator' — CultureSlate
Hello there. Why don’t you have a seat over there? To Catch a Predator is, without a doubt, one of the most popular and influential true crime series out there, and certainly one of the most famous. Following TV reporter Chris Hansen (not to be confused with Scott Hanson, the host of NFL RedZone) as he partners with the police and online watchdog groups like the now defunct Perverted Justice. The setup was clockwork.
New 'LEGO Batman' Sets Have Been Announced — CultureSlate
But you don’t have to just play the game to get the LEGO Batman experience. New sets will be released that tie into the game, which are available for preorder now. Three of the sets are Batmobiles (the Batman v Superman version, the DC LEGO Batman version, and the Batman and Robin car), and the fourth is a LEGO set of the Bat Signal. All of them come with a code that will unlock a gold variant in the actual game, and the Bat Signal set comes with a gold version of LEGO Batman.
Ryan Reynolds Reveals He Has Not Been On The Set Of 'Avengers: Doomsday' — CultureSlate
As a brief aside, Trains, Planes and Automobiles should be required Thanksgiving viewing on the same level as movies like It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story are for Christmas. Some reports are saying that Reynolds will be in Doomsday, but Reynolds himself, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where he talked about John Candy easter eggs in the film, said, "There's four that I've got in there.
Ten People You Didn't Know Won an Oscar — CultureSlate
The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are the pinnacle of filmmaking. It’s the award that every filmmaker of every category covets. It opens up so many career opportunities if if studios know you can produce films that they can stamp “Academy Award Winner” on the Blu-Ray cover or Netflix description.
'V/H/S/Halloween' Trailer Showcases Some Thrilling, Creepy Looks — CultureSlate
Like the previous Shudder entries, there is a general theme to the film. Beyond dealt largely with outer space-themed shorts, the ones set in certain years had shorts from those years, and now the latest one is set to have a bunch of Halloween segments. Like the other films, this one is set to have some powerhouse directors, such as Paco Plaza of REC fame.
‘Dead Rising 2’: A Retrospective — CultureSlate
In the pantheon of zombie games, one of the more interesting is the Dead Rising series. Set in a world where zombies have taken over, one of the main things that makes it stick out is the ability to craft weapons out of everyday objects to fight the undead hoard My personal favorite is combining a flashlight and jewelry to create essentially a lightsaber.
'Halloween: The Game' Official Trailer Released — CultureSlate
In the pantheon of slasher villains, arguably none are more iconic than Michael Myers from the 1978 classicHalloween. Often regarded as the most iconic and influential slasher film of all time, Halloween had dozens of imitators, sequels, and a reboot trilogy in the nearly fifty years since Michael first terrorized the world on the silver screen. Now he’s appearing on consoles. Now, this isn’t the first time. There was an Atari 2600 game that came out in 1983.
The Pokémon Company Has Revealed The Official Pronunciation Of Rayquaza — CultureSlate
I mean, I guess it makes sense. Its name is a combination of Ray, denoting its celestial nature, and quasar, so there’s nothing technically off about it. However, that hasn’t stopped the Pokémon community from largely rejecting this news. Several fans on social media have taken the “the Pokémon Company can call it what they want, it’s Ray-Kwah-Zuh” approach. For my part, I’m taking the same route. I’ve been saying the old name for twenty years, and I can’t be bothered to change it now.
ESPN Has Decided They Will Not Air Spike Lee's Docuseries On Former NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick — CultureSlate
In the early/mid-2010s, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick had it all. Fame, money, success, and a Super Bowl appearance. His future looked bright in the NFL. Then came 2016, and it all fell apart. Statistically, it wasn’t an amazing year for him in general. While he limited turnovers and extended plays with his legs, other stats such as yards per attempt, completion percentage, and yards per game were among the worst in the league.
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