Author: Trafficblast

Best Gifts for Movie Lovers – Holiday Gift Guides 2020

Everyone loves movies, which makes them a great gift for any holiday or birthday. However, it can be a bit overwhelming to figure out exactly what someone would like. We believe that it sometimes helps to see all the options in one place, so we’ve gathered some of our favorite new and upcoming 4K UHD and Blu-ray movies, some that come by themselves and others that are included in a collection that gathers every film of a beloved franchise like The Lord of the Rings.

Speaking of The Lord of the Rings, this will be the first year Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy will make the jump to 4K, and those will undoubtedly make a great gift for the Tolkien lover in your life. However, we’ve included so much more, including movie-themed gifts, games, shirts, and some awesome Studio Ghibli steelbook limited editions.

No matter if your loved one has made the jump to 4K or not, there is something for everyone in this guide made specifically for movie lovers. So, whether you need Harry Potter, Back to the Future, Jaws, Friday the 13th, The Goonies, or 300, we’ve got you covered.

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Best 4K UHD Blu-ray Gift Sets

If you want something a bit more than a standard Blu-ray case, gift sets are a great option.

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Best 4K UHD and Blu-ray Gifts

If you are looking for some of the best 4K UHD Blu-rays on the market, here is the list for you.

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Best Blu-ray Collection Gifts

Sometimes a single film of a series isn’t enough, and here are some of the best collections of our favorite films.

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Best Blu-ray Steelbook Gifts

There is something just plain awesome about steelbooks, and they make great giftts.

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Best Movie-Themed Gifts

If you want more than a movie, these movie-themed gifts will help fill that void.

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Best Movie-Themed Stocking Stuffer Gifts

These t-shirts are under $25 and will make a great stocking stuffer gift.

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The Best Gift Ideas for 2020

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Disney’s Hawkeye: Black Widow’s Florence Pugh, Vera Farmiga Join Cast

Disney Plus’ Hawkeye series has added a number of new actors to its cast, including Black Widow’s Florence Pugh, Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Alaqua Cox, and Zahn McClarnon, according to Variety.

Pugh is reprising her role as Yelena Belova, sister of Black Widow in the Marvel cinematic universe. Farmiga (Up in the Air, The Conjuring series, The Departed) will play Eleanor Bishop, Kate Bishop’s mother.

Fee (Les Miserables as well as the upcoming Cinderella film) is cast as Kazi, a villain also known as the Clown.

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Dalton (Salamanca in Better Call Saul) will play Jack Duquesne. In Marvel lore, Duquesne (also known as “Swordsman”) is a mentor figure to Hawkeye and has varied between hero and villain over the years.

Cox, in her first onscreen appearance, will play Maya Lopez, or Echo. Often depicted as a supporting character to Daredevil, Echo is a Native American individual with the ability to perfectly mimic her opponent’s movements. She’s also one of the few deaf comic characters in the Marvel universe.

McClarnon (Westworld’s Akecheta) will play William Lopez, who is most likely Maya Lopez’ father, named Willie “Crazy Horse” Lincoln.

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The new cast members will play supporting roles to Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye and Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop, who eventually takes on the Hawkeye name. Disney has yet to confirm Steinfeld’s role, despite Variety reporting it earlier. Steinfeld has previously starred in True Grit, Bumblebee, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Disney’s Hawkeye series currently has no announced premiere date and will be beaten to Disney Plus by the upcoming WandaVision series debuting in January.

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Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone Review

Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone will be available on Blu-ray & Digital Dec. 8 from Paramount Home Entertainment. It also opens in select theaters on Dec. 4. Read more on IGN’s policy on movie reviews in light of COVID-19 here. IGN strongly encourages anyone considering going to a movie theater during the COVID-19 pandemic to check their local public health and safety guidelines before buying a ticket.

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While The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone is a slightly leaner and more focused revision of The Godfather: Part III, Francis Ford Coppola’s revamp won’t do much to radically change anyone’s feelings about the final installment in his crime family saga, the 1990 film widely deemed a disappointment following the two instant classics that preceded it.

In other words, the problems in Godfather 3 are too fundamental to be erased by merely restructuring and trimming what had been a bloated, less than engaging finale. Tragedy and family — among the cornerstones of the Godfather saga — are precisely what’s so off about this final entry, whether it’s Godfather: Part III or Godfather, Coda. Al Pacino’s ailing, aging Michael and Talia Shire’s darker, vicious Connie are the most prominent returning cast members, with Diane Keaton’s remarried Kay playing a supporting role in service of Michael’s quest for forgiveness. But this Corleone family is a shell of the one we’d previously come to know; they’re less defined, less warm, and largely strangers to the viewer, with the film itself hardly developing any of its new characters to fill the void or bring anything unique or exciting to the saga.

The filmmaker’s daughter Sofia Coppola remains woefully miscast as Michael’s beloved daughter Mary, and her romance with her first cousin Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia) is still as cringe-inducing as it was 30 years ago. (Sorry, but there’s still no way to dress up incest between first cousins and make it into some tragic romance between star-crossed lovers doomed by the family business.) It’s not all Sofia Coppola’s fault, mind you, as Mary is underwritten and lacks any true motivation beyond wanting to be in love with her cousin, but a stronger actress could have transcended what little there is on the page for her to play. Mary is ultimately there to be the crushing blow to her father’s vain attempt at redemption. She says at one point she wants to be closer to her dad but at no point do we witness any true estrangement between them. Indeed, she appears to be the apple of his eye, with her aspiring opera singer brother Tony the one who has an icy relationship with their father.

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Garcia brings a much-needed jolt of charisma and energy to the whole affair as Sonny Corleone’s illegitimate son Vincent, succeeding where Sofia Coppola couldn’t in bringing more to his underwritten role. But Vincent lacks the gravitas and pathos of past Godfather characters; even his dad Sonny had more nuance and dimension to him. Vincent is a one-note, vicious hothead throughout, whose eventual graduation to become the new Godfather feels unearned; as loyal as he may be to Michael, he only got the job because there really was no one else left in line for it by then. The surrogate father-son bond between Michael and Vincent isn’t really explored much, and Michael, while firm on it needing to be called off, isn’t really as aghast at his daughter and his brother’s son being romantically involved as you’d think a father would be. (He’s more upset about Tony not wanting to become a lawyer.)

All of this is to say that even with Coppola’s rejiggering and wholesale cutting of scenes, there are still enough deep flaws in Godfather, Coda to keep the film from being anywhere near as good as the first two chapters. It is, however, still a slightly better version of the same movie, getting to its point in a more deft way by losing the original’s “Michael gets a papal medal” sequence and using Michael’s meeting with Archbishop Gilday about the Catholic Church’s debts — and Michael’s bid to acquire the Church’s stake in the firm Immobiliare — as the impetus for everything that’s to come. This was a smart change because it establishes what Michael wants — redemption (even if he has to buy it) as well as a legitimate future and fortune for his family — right off the bat.
godfather3stillks47-sAnother notable difference is the very end of the film, which provoked laughter in the theater when I saw it back in 1990. Without giving too much away, Coda has a shorter and bleaker resolution than what was seen in the theatrical cut. It doesn’t redeem the deeply flawed nature of the movie, but it’s certainly a better ending than the one we’ve had for the past 30 years.

And while I’m personally interested in all the Vatican bank intrigue, the film is so engrossed in these machinations that it loses sight of what it should mean to the characters. The movie remains in service of the plot rather than the characters, with the minutiae of the Immobiliare deal getting far more screen time than the development of the tragic (albeit very misguided) romance between Mary and Vincent or the relationship between Michael and his children.

The cinematography, production design, and overall aesthetic of this final Godfather film remain as gloomily gorgeous as its predecessors, elements that this crisp new Blu-ray and digital transfer capture well. Francis Ford Coppola may have improved upon his initial release with this Coda, but no amount of reworking of this material can make Sofia Coppola’s performance better, the new characters more compelling, or the central plot less aloof.

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The Biggest Horror Movies To Watch In 2021

The Biggest Horror Movies To Watch In 2021 – GameSpot

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After several extremely successful years, the popularity of the horror genre was expected to continue in 2020 with a wealth of high profile releases. Huge horror franchises such as Halloween, The Conjuring, Saw, and The Purge were set to get their latest entries, high-profile directors like James Wan, Zack Snyder, and Edgar Wright had new original movies on the way, and a handful of intriguing indie movies showed that the genre was in great shape. But as we all know, the year didn’t pan out as planned, and the majority of 2020’s highest profile horror movies were pushed to 2021.

That means there is a lot of exciting new scary cinema on the way next year. All of those big franchise movies will finally arrive, along with the sequel to Don’t Breathe, the reboot of Candyman, and a sequel to 2018’s hugely successful A Quiet Place.

However, 2021’s horror line-up doesn’t only include movies that were delayed from the year before. Purge and Halloween producers Blumhouse have several new films in the way, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre will get yet another sequel, Shudder will unleash the outrageous ’80s-set gorefest Psycho Goreman, and acclaimed director Ben Wheatley will reveal the mysterious horror movie he shot during lockdown. So with 2021 almost here, here’s our guide to the most anticipated horror movies to be released over the next 12 months.

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Escape Room 2

Escape Room 2

Release date: January 1, 2021

The 2019 movie Escape Room might not have been a critical hit, but it made a lot of money–$155 million worldwide from a $9 million production budget. Inevitably, a sequel was greenlit, and it will arrive at the start of 2021. Director Adam Robitel and writer Bragi F. Schut are back, and while a storyline or trailer haven’t been revealed yet, it’s safe to assume the movie will involve a group of people once more having to escape from a series of increasingly deadly rooms.

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Antlers

Antlers

Release date: February 19

Guillermo Del Toro’s next directorial effort, Nightmare Alley, isn’t expected until 2022. As a producer, though, his name continues to be attached to a variety of films. Following Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, we have Antlers. It’s a spooky tale of a young boy and something scary that lives in the woods that’s been picking off the locals. Antlers stars Keri Russell (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) and Jesse Plemons (El Camino: A Breaking Bad Story), and is directed by Scott Cooper.

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A Quiet Place: Part II

A Quiet Place: Part II

Release date: April 23

With A Quiet Place, The Office and Jack Ryan star John Krasinski proved that he wasn’t just a talented actor–he also has serious chops as a filmmaker. The movie was a tense, terrifying, and moving experience that transcended its gimmicky setup (make a sound and a monster will get you), and grossed more than $340 million worldwide. Krasinski also directs the sequel, which stars Emily Blunt once more, alongside Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou. Krasinski previously hinted that the sequel will expand the setting of the movie, stating, “[It] isn’t just a character to remake or a group of characters or a story. It’s actually a world, which is a whole different, very unique experience.”

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Last Night in Soho

Last Night in Soho

Release date: April 23

The zombie comedy classic Shaun of the Dead proved that director Edgar Wright is a huge horror fan, and with Last Night in Soho, he’ll get the chance to show he can make scary as well as funny. It’s a ’60s-set London-based psychological horror film that reportedly takes influence from British classics such as Don’t Look Now and Peeping Tom.The movie stars Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, The Queen’s Gambit), and Matt Smith (Doctor Who) alongside veteran British stars Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp.

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Spiral: From the Book of Saw

Spiral: From the Book of Saw

Release date: May 21

The Saw series is one of the most successful horror franchises of all time, and the ninth movie is on the way. The awkwardly-titled Spiral: From the Book of Saw stars Chris Rock as a cop who gets pulled into a strange murder case, which seems to have links to the activities of the notorious (and very dead) trap-setting maniac Jigsaw. The movie also stars Samuel L. Jackson, and it’s directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who previously helmed Saw 2, 3, and 4. Despite the title and weird, arty poster, the recent first trailer suggests that it’ll be gory business as usual.

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The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Release date: June 4

The Conjuring universe is now the most successful horror movie franchise ever made, and the third film in the main series arrives in 2021. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren, who, as the movie’s title suggests, take on an unusual case of demonic possession. Wilson has stated that the film will have “a much different feel” to previous movies. It’s produced by series creator James Wan once more, and directed by Michael Chaves, who previously helmed 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona.

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The Forever Purge

The Forever Purge

Release date: July 9

In just eight years, the Purge series has produced four movies and two seasons of a spin-off TV show, and a fifth film is on the way. Creator James DeMonaco previously stated that this would be the last one, but given that 2018’s prequel The First Purge was the most successful one so far, it’s hard to believe producers Blumhouse will stop here. But either way, The Forever Purge will pick up where 2016’s Election Year left off, with director Everardo Gout (Luke Cage, Banshee) making his feature debut.

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Don't Breathe 2

Don’t Breathe 2

Release date: August 13

Fede Alvarez’s highly suspenseful Don’t Breathe was one of 2016’s big surprise hits, making $157 million at the worldwide box office from a modest production budget of $10 million. The movie didn’t necessarily leave the door open for a second entry, but that has rarely (ok, never) stopped Hollywood, and the sequel is on the way. Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues have written the screenplay once more, with Sayagues taking over directorial duties. Stephen Lang will be back as the sinister Blind Man, and he confirmed in October that production has now wrapped on the movie ahead of its release next summer.

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Candyman

Candyman

Release date: August 27

As well as directing the hit movies Get Out and Us, Jordan Peele has kept busy by writing and producing a slate of other genre TV shows and movies. He’s co-written this new version of the terrifying ’90s horror classic Candyman, which is based on the story by Clive Barker. It’s described as a “spiritual sequel,” and while there has been a bit of confusion about who will play the vengeful ghostly former slave of the title, the trailers released so far suggest that it will in fact be original star Tony Todd. The movie stars Aquaman’s Yahya Abdul Mateen II, and it’s directed by rising director Nia DaCosta (Little Woods, Top Boy).

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Halloween Kills

Halloween Kills

Release date: October 15

The huge success of 2018’s Halloween reboot/sequel proved there’s still life in the long-running slasher series. Director David Gordon Green has shot the next two movies back-to-back, and the first will be with us next October. Original star Jamie Lee Curtis is back to fight her masked nemesis Michael Myers on the streets of Haddonfield once more, and series co-creator John Carpenter will provide another iconic score. The third movie, the almost-certainly inaccurately titled Halloween Ends, is due in 2022.

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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 9

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 9

Release date: TBD

The 1974 classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most influential horror movies of all time and has been followed by numerous sequels, prequels, and remakes over the years. The ninth film in the series is due for release in 2021. While the last film, 2017’s Leatherface, was a prequel to the original Texas Chainsaw, this next entry will reportedly be a direct sequel, set four decades later, that ignores all the films in between. The film is produced by Fede Álvarez (Don’t Breathe) and directed by David Blue Garcia.

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Psycho Goreman

Psycho Goreman

Release date: TBD

Steven Kostanski is part of the Canadian horror production company Vestron-6, and he previously directed the acclaimed cosmic horror The Void. His latest movie is Psycho Goreman, which is set for a theatrical release before hitting Shudder next year. It’s a homage to both ’80s kids movies like Explorers and The Goonies and splattery horror of the same era, and tells the story of two kids who befriend a huge, terrifying creature named PG. They get to play baseball with him, but unfortunately, he’s also partial to tearing people’s heads off. Check out the outrageously gory trailer.

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Run Sweetheart Run

Run Sweetheart Run

Release date: TBD

This urban chiller was set to hit theaters in May this year, but it will now head straight to streaming, with a Prime Video release expected some time in 2021. It’s a tale of a date-from-hell, as a single mom (Ella Balinska) ends up being pursued across LA by a psychotic suitor, played by Game of Thrones’s Pilou Asbæk. It looks like another slick, tense, and entertaining movie from Blumhouse productions.

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St. Maud

St. Maud

Release date: TBD

First-time British filmmaker Rose Glass made something of a festival splash with this unsettling horror movie, which was set for a summer 2020 release but will now appear sometime next year. The plot focuses on a nurse who becomes infatuated with one of her dying patients and starts to believe that she might be possessed. The movie stars Morfydd Clark, who appeared in last year’s horror hit Crawl, and blends psychological scares and disturbing body horror.

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Malignant

Malignant

Release date: TBD

James Wan is one of the most successful directors working today, but while his biggest hits have been franchise blockbusters Aquaman and Fast 7, his roots lie in horror. He co-created the Saw, Insidious, and Conjuring series and returns to the genre in 2021 with this new scary film. Despite rumors that it’s an adaptation of Wan’s 2011 graphic novel Malignant Man, the director has confirmed that it is in fact an entirely new story. We don’t actually know what it’s about, but it’s definitely one to keep a watch out for.

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Army of the Dead

Army of the Dead

Release date: TBD

Zack Snyder kicked off his directing career with the James Gunn-written remake of Dawn of the Dead, and he’ll soon be back with another zombie movie. It was first announced way back in 2008 but sat unmade for a decade until Netflix picked it up. Dave Bautista heads the cast, and in 2019, Synder gave us a hint about what to expect, describing it as a “heist movie in a zombie-infested Las Vegas.” It sounds awesome.

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There's Someone Inside Your House

There’s Someone Inside Your House

Release date: TBD

Director Patrick Brice has shown himself to be skilled at blending genres with his superb horror comedies Creep and Creep 2, and next he’ll tackle the horror thriller There’s Someone Inside Your House for Netflix. It’s based on Stephanie Perkins’ 2017 novel of the same title, and focuses on a teenage girl with a dark past who joins a new school in rural Nebraska. Soon after her arrival, students start dying in a variety of gruesome ways. The novel was acclaimed as an enjoyable throwback to slasher movies, so it’ll be fascinating to see what Brice brings to the genre.

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In The Earth

In The Earth

Release date: TBD

Kill List director Ben Wheatley has got a couple of big Hollywood sequels lined up over the next couple of years, namely Tomb Raider 2 and The Meg 2, but in the meantime kept himself busy by making this intriguing low budget horror movie. It was shot in 15 days during quarantine this year, with the entire cast and crew isolating together, and stars Joel Fry (Yesterday), Ellora Torchia (Midsommar), and Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake). The plot centers on the search for a cure for a virus, which leads a scientist to encounter terrifying things deep in a forest.

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Wrong Turn

Wrong Turn

Release date: TBD

The original Wrong Turn was a 2003 survival horror film that focused on a backwoods cannibal family targeting an unfortunate group of friends who make–you got it– a wrong turn into their territory. It spawned no fewer than five sequels, and next year the entire series is getting a reboot. Series creator Alan B. McElroy has written the screenplay, and this time the story centres on mountain-dwelling crazies known as the Foundation who have lived there since before the Civil War and don’t like visitors.

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Firestarter

Firestarter

Release date: TBD

The classic Stephen King novel Firestarter was first adapted in 1984, with a young Drew Barrymore playing a pyrokinetic girl who is hunted by a sinister government agency. It’s set to get a new adaptation from Blumhouse–the movie was first announced in 2019 and could potentially be with us later in 2021. It’ll be directed by Keith Thomas, who previously helmed the creepy chiller The Vigil, with Zac Efron starring as the father to the main character.

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Vengeance

Vengeance

Release date: TBD

The Office star BJ Novak will make his feature directing and writing debut with this Blumhouse-produced horror thriller. Novak plays a New York radio host who travels to the Deep South to investigate the mysterious death of his girlfriend, and the cast also includes Boyd Holbrook (Narcos, The Predator), Issa Rae (The Hate U Give), and Ashton Kutcher (That ’70s Show). Production was already underway before the pandemic shut down earlier this year, so it should be with us in 2021.

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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company

Two Key BioWare Leads Leave The Studio

BioWare’s Casey Hudson (general manager) and Mark Darrah (Dragon Age: Inquisition executive producer) are retiring from the studio to make way for a new wave of creators. Hudson will be replaced by interim general manager Gary McKay (senior director of development operations) and Darrah’s role will be filled by Christian Dailey (BioWare Austin studio director).

“It’s not an easy decision to make, and big changes like this always come with a certain degree of sadness,” Hudson wrote in a farewell post on the BioWare blog. “I will miss being able to work every day with our inspiring developers on the biggest and most exciting projects I can imagine. But I also know that this is a good time for a change, for both myself and BioWare.”

Darrah echoed Hudson’s sentiment, saying he’s confident in BioWare’s pedigree as a studio and is certain the Dragon Age series will live on without him spearheading development.

“This has been a very difficult decision for me,” Darrah wrote in his farewell statement. “The team of amazing developers on Dragon Age, make my life fuller and better. They have taught me so much. But the strength of the team is also what makes this possible. I know that Dragon Age won’t just survive without me, it will thrive.”

Darrah and Hudson have been with BioWare for over 20 years, with Darrah working as a lead programmer on the Baldur’s Gate series and Hudson starting as a technical artist on MDK2.

Hudson had previously left BioWare in August 2014, after which he joined Microsoft Studios (now Xbox Game Studios) as creative director in May 2015. After a brief stint at Microsoft, Hudson returned to BioWare in July 2017 as general manager, replacing Aaryn Flynn.

BioWare recently unveiled the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, which bundles the first three Mass Effect games and spruces them up with better resolutions and higher frame rates. This package launches in Spring 2021. The studio is hard-at-work on another Mass Effect entry.

The studio also confirmed that Dragon Age 4 is currently in development but didn’t share any details about the game, including an estimated release window or targeted launch platforms.

BioWare is also still toiling away at Anthem, which is currently being overhauled to “reinvent the core gameplay loop,” according to Hudson. This 2.0 version of Anthem (effectively called Anthem Next) is still coming, but the studio said the redesign is going to be a long process.

Now Playing: Mass Effect Legendary Edition Teaser Trailer

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Pokemon Go December 2020 Community Day: Featured Pokemon, Event Schedule, Bonuses, And More

Pokemon Go is closing out the year with a variety of December events, including another Community Day weekend celebration. The two-day event takes place on December 12 and 13, and it brings back all the previous featured Pokemon not only from this past year, but from 2019 as well. To get you up to speed on the big event, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about December’s Community Day weekend below.

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As has become tradition at this point, December’s Community Day brings back all the featured Pokemon from every Community Day this past year. Throughout both days of the event, the following Pokemon–and their Shiny forms–will appear in the wild much more often than normal:

Additionally, Niantic is bringing all of 2019’s featured Pokemon back for this month’s Community Day as well. The following Pokemon will appear in Raids and hatch from 2 km eggs throughout the weekend:

  • Totodile
  • Swinub
  • Treecko
  • Torchic
  • Mudkip
  • Ralts
  • Slakoth
  • Trapinch
  • Bagon
  • Turtwig
  • Chimchar

Not only will you have another chance to catch 2020’s featured Pokemon again during this month’s Community Day, you’ll also be able to get their Community Day-exclusive attacks. Below, you can see what event move each Pokemon will learn if you can evolve them into their final forms before the Community Day weekend ends.

Featured Pokemon Community Day Move
Piplup Hydro Cannon
Rhyhorn Rock Wrecker
Abra Counter
Seedot Bullet Seed
Weedle Drill Run
Gastly Shadow Punch
Magikarp Aqua Tail
Porygon Tri Attack
Charmander Dragon Breath
Electabuzz Flamethrower
Magmar Thunderbolt

Any 2019 Pokemon that you catch and evolve during this month’s event will also be able to learn their original Community Day moves. You can see each of those below.

Featured Pokemon Community Day Move
Totodile Hydro Cannon
Swinub Ancient Power
Treecko Frenzy Plant
Torchic Blast Burn
Mudkip Hydro Cannon
Ralts Synchronoise
Slakoth Body Slam
Trapinch Earth Power
Bagon Outrage
Turtwig Frenzy Plant
Chimchar Blast Burn

Each day of December’s Community Day event runs from 6 AM to 10 PM local time, but certain Pokemon and Raids will be more common during specific hours. The following Pokemon will be more likely to be Shiny from 11 AM to 5 PM local time each day:

December 12

  • Weedle
  • Abra
  • Gastly
  • Rhyhorn
  • Seedot
  • Piplup

December 13

  • Charmander
  • Electabuzz
  • Magmar
  • Magikarp
  • Porygon

Additionally, Mega Gengar Raids will be occurring more frequently from 11 AM to 5 PM on December 12, while Mega Charizard X Raids will happen more often during the same window on December 13.

Other Bonuses

On top of the increased Pokemon spawns, Niantic will offer a few bonuses during December’s Community Day weekend. From 11 AM to 5 PM local time each day of the event, you’ll earn twice the normal amount of Stardust for capturing Pokemon. Additionally, eggs will hatch at a quarter of the distance they usually require, and any Incense you use will remain active for three hours.

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Call of Duty: Warzone Players Want A Christmas Celebration

Call of Duty: Warzone player Garry2206 was running to pick up a contract in lumberyard when he turned a corner and was blinded by the bright lights that lined the building in front of him. He could barely see the enemy in his peripheral. He was gunned down a few moments later.

“Christmas came early in lumberyard,” they wrote on Reddit after getting killed. The lights were actually caused by a rendering bug and not anything related to old Saint Nick, but it’s pushed players to imagine what Verdansk would look like during the holidays.

Infinity Ward and Raven Software went all out with jump scares, special skins, and a night time mode for Warzone’s Halloween event, The Haunting of Verdansk. Players are hoping for something similar in December. They’re asking Santa for a new limited-time mode, special Elf cosmetics, and even a candy cane melee weapon.

“It’d be nice if we got a full snowstorm for Christmas time,” said Redditor OneTokeOverTheLine. “Throw some holiday lights on the buildings, build some snow men, and if you win you should get picked up by Santa’s sleigh instead of the Blackhawk.”

There haven’t been any leaks or announcements relating to a holiday event happening in Call of Duty: Warzone, but it’s something that previous Call of Duty games have had. Infinity Ward released a special re-skin of the Crash map in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare–both the original game and the 2019 remaster–called Winter Crash. It had Christmas lights, a tree, and special holiday-themed air strikes.

Winter Crash
Winter Crash

This will be the first holiday season in Warzone’s existence and Activision, Raven Software, and Treyarch already have their hands full with merging the battle royale with Black Ops Cold War in December. Players are still hopeful that they’ll get something beyond cosmetics to help them ring in the new year in Verdansk.

“It would be fun to have things like snow falling across the map, snowmobiles instead of ATVs, Christmas lights and decorations in and on the houses, and maybe even a gun that shoots snowballs,” said Redditor EverythingisTaken109. “Of course we would have Santa skins, too.”

Many players have said they’d like a return to the night mode that was introduced with the Haunting of Verdansk, with the addition of lights and presents spread all over the map. Fortnite, Apex Legends, and PUBG have all had or are currently having holiday events and hopefully Warzone follows suit this year.

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Phantasy Star Online 2’s Episode 6 Update Launches Next Week

Phantasy Star Online 2 is getting a significant update next week that will usher in the next chapter of the MMORPG’s storyline. Beyond new story content, Episode 6 will include Phantom and Etoile classes to check out and will raise the level cap to 95. All of the Episode 6 content releases on December 9 for free.

Episode 6’s story picks up after the alternate dimension Omega was able to get rid of the gigantic black hole. The victory doesn’t last long as the ARKS find a new foe in the form of the Goddess of Annihilation Shiva, who declares war upon the entire universe. It’s now up to players to go up against her fleets of spaceships in what Sega is calling “the most massive battle in the history of ARKS.”

Players will be able to take the battle to Shiva while playing as two new classes. The Phantom class uses rods, katanas, and assault rifles to damage enemies and are able to modify their Photon Arts by using weapon actions. Meanwhile, the Etoile class specializes in support and melee combat. Wielding blades and wands, these defensive-minded characters are able to restore party members’ HP and PP during combat.

As far as new quests go, PSO2 is adding in a new urgent quest called Armada of Annihilation: Interception. This ties into the new story content and will be a space battle waged by the Goddess of Annihilation. Additionally, there are new risk exploration quests and level up quests that will give players a special present upon completion plus 200% experience.

Players will find themselves going up against two new enemy types during these missions. The Luminmech packs quite the challenge as they are heavily armored and deal significant damage. Even more fearsome is the Ultra Enemy type, which is an evolved form of enemies and Falspawn found on each planet. These foes are found in risk exploration missions and are classified as being “ultra hard.” There’s a good reason to go up against them, though, as players can unlock powerful weapons by defeating them.

To help take on these new challenges, Sega is adding two summoner pets into PSO2. Herbie is the evolved form of Redran and has a genius personality type. That means Herbie will have increased PP recovery, Photon Arts performance, and normal attack damage against bosses. The other new pet is Vulcan, which is the evolution of Synchro and an aggressive type. Vulcan is able to use damaging kicks and does more damage with its bomb and strike attacks than its previous form.

Episode 6 will cap off a busy year for PSO2, which saw Sega’s popular MMO finally release in North America on Xbox One and PC, arrive on Steam, and put on memorable Persona and NieR: Automata crossovers. The New Genesis expansion is set to release next year, although it won’t replace the base game.

Now Playing: New Genesis: Phantasy Star Universe 2 Gameplay Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2020

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Was The Driving Force Behind Total Recall Being Made

Total Recall is celebrating its 30th anniversary in a big way with a 4K UHD rerelease that includes brand-new special features. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, who plays Quaid, a mild-mannered man who may or may not be a secret agent from Mars. And in one of the new featurettes, we learn that the reason this movie got made was because of its star.

As you can see in the video below, which is part of the special features for the new release of the film, more than 40 drafts were written for this movie. In 1989, Schwarzenegger had become a monumental star in Hollywood, coming off of Terminator, Predator, The Running Man, and Twins to name a few.

So at that point, Schwarzenegger had a lot of pull and pushed for the movie to get made. “What happened was that Arnold saw Robocop,” explained director Paul Verhoeven. “And he had wanted to do Total Recall for years. He basically convinced [executive producer] Mario Kassar to buy that script.”

From there, the rest is history. The movie was released in 1990 and grossed $261 million worldwide ($519 million adjusted for inflation) on a reported $65 million budget. While the original film was a hit, the same could not be said about the 2012 remake starring Colin Farrell, which grossed $198 million worldwide with an estimated $125 million budget.

The 4K UHD three-disc set of Total Recall will arrive in stores on December 8. In addition to previously-released special features like audio commentary, the 4K release will feature a documentary on how Carlco Pictures changed Hollywood, a featurette on the score of Total Recall, and another featurette developing the movie.

The suggested retail price for the film is $33. However, it’s currently on sale at Amazon for $15, and Best Buy has is for the same price. However, Best Buy also has a Steelbook edition for $20. The 4K edition of Total Recall does not arrive until December 8.

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Now Playing: Total Recall 4K Special Feature: Carolco Produces The Sci-Fi Movie

Warner Changes Movie-Going As We Know It With 2021 HBO Max Release Plans

In the most dramatic move yet for a studio making its plans for movie releases in 2021, Warner has announced that it will put its entire theatrical line-up onto streaming next year.

As reported by Variety, the studio’s movies will hit HBO Max in the US and Canada simultaneously with a theatrical release for the first month of release. This includes films such as the The Matrix 4, Dune, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, The Suicide Squad, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Space Jam: A New Legacy, James Wan’s horror movie Malignant, and the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark. Once the first month is over, the movies will leave HBO Max and will follow a normal release pattern.

Warner has stated that this is a “one year plan” and that the initiative won’t continue into 2022. In a statement, WarnerMedia chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff said, “We’re living in unprecedented times which call for creative solutions, including this new initiative for the Warner Bros. Pictures Group. No one wants films back on the big screen more than we do. We know new content is the lifeblood of theatrical exhibition, but we have to balance this with the reality that most theaters in the U.S. will likely operate at reduced capacity throughout 2021.”

“With this unique one-year plan, we can support our partners in exhibition with a steady pipeline of world-class films, while also giving moviegoers who may not have access to theaters or aren’t quite ready to go back to the movies the chance to see our amazing 2021 films,” she continued. “We see it as a win-win for film lovers and exhibitors, and we’re extremely grateful to our filmmaking partners for working with us on this innovative response to these circumstances.”

Warner had already released The Witches straight to HBO Max in October, and Wonder Woman 1984 is set to follow next month. While it was reported earlier this week that the studio was considering putting more movies on HBO Max, the announcement that everything, including some extremely expensive and high profile films, will be released onto the platform next year is certainly a surprise. Variety states that while the studio had agreed to give theaters a larger cut of the gross for the release of Wonder Woman 1984, this won’t be the case for its 2021 slate.