Category: Games

The fall traditionally sees the release of the many of the prestigious movies that are awards-contenders, and 2018 is no different. Over the next few months, expect to see films such as First Man, Widows, and If Beale Street Could Talk hitting theaters, while many of the big summer movies move to VoD and streaming. Of course, the big talk in Hollywood this week is the Emmy awards, but there’s still several great movies being released.

This week, the fantasy adventure movie The House With a Clock in Its Walls hits theaters, with Cate Blanchett and Jack Black in the lead roles. John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix star in the dark comedy western The Sisters Brothers, and there’s violent teen satire in the blood-splattered Assassination Nation. On digital formats, the thriller sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado and horror sequel The First Purge are out to buy, while Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is now available to rent.

The landscape for consuming movies has really changed over the past few years. The biggest films still debut in the old fashioned-way–in theaters, with home releases still a few months off. But with the rise of streaming and Video on Demand, we are increasingly seeing simultaneous releases for smaller movies, with films getting a limited theatrical release on the same day that they are available to buy and rent digitally.

The rise of Netflix and Amazon as major players in film production has also disrupted standard release patterns. Netflix in particular has attracted some major directors, and their movies will bypass theaters entirely and premiere worldwide on the streaming platform. And of course, movies that did get a theatrical release continue to move to digital platforms after a few months. This is a great way to catch up on movies you might have missed on the big screen–or are keen to rewatch. So here’s our look at the best and most interesting new movies in theaters and available to watch at home this week.

We’re in the waning days of Fortnite Season 5, but developer Epic still has some new content in store for the popular battle royale game before Season 6 officially arrives. We’ve gotten our first glimpse at one upcoming item courtesy of Fortnite’s in-game news feed, and it looks like it could shake the game up fairly dramatically.

A listing has appeared in Fortnite’s News section for an item called the Port-a-Fortress. According to the feed, the item is “coming soon” to the game, presumably as part of this week’s update. Based on its name, it sounds like an enhanced version of the Port-a-Fort, a portable item introduced earlier this spring that can spawn a fort a few seconds after being thrown.

Based on the Port-a-Fortress’s accompanying description, it sounds like it works similarly to the Port-a-Fort. “Toss down the Port-a-Fortress and take defense to new heights,” the description reads. You can get a glimpse of the item below.

Epic has been introducing new items to Fortnite on an almost weekly basis. Last week, the developer rolled out the 5.40 content update, which added the Suppressed Assault Rifle. The studio has also periodically removed weapons from the game’s arsenal and put them into the Vault; most recently, Epic vaulted the Drum Gun. However, weapons that have been removed from Fortnite could potentially return to the game down the line.

Season 5 of Fortnite is scheduled to wrap up on Tuesday, September 25, making this your last chance to complete any remaining challenges you need to do before Season 6 kicks off. Epic has released 10 weekly sets of challenges throughout Season 5; you can find all of them and tips on how to complete them in our Fortnite Season 5 challenge roundup. You can also see the items you can earn for finishing challenges in our Season 5 rewards gallery.

Rockstar Games is selling a Red Dead Redemption 2 blanket and it’s available for purchase right now. The blanket costs $200, and only ships to U.S. addresses. Rockstar has a few RDR2-themed candles for sale too if you want to create a bit more ambience when you’re playing the game this October.

The RDR2 blanket is 68 x 39 inches, which is about the size of a single bed mattress. The blanket is felt bound and made from 82% pure virgin wool and 18% cotton. It depicts the game’s Van der Linde gang riding against a red background. You can pre-order the blanket right now from GameStop, and it will ship out the same day as RDR2’s release.

You can also pre-order the candles from GameStop, and they’ll ship the same day. If you want one, you’ve got three options. The Black Glass, Dynamite, and Barrel candles are each appropriately shaped like the item they’re named after, and cost $50, $80, and $100 respectfully. Every candle is labeled with the RDR2 logo, and smells like a mixture of blood orange, incense, amber, rockrose, smoked cedar, sandalwood, violet leaf, and juniper. Rockstar has plenty of other physical goodies on the way, if you want to buy even more merchandise.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is launching on October 26 for Xbox One and PS4. Here’s everything we know about the game so far. We also have a pre-order guide for the game’s many editions if you’re looking for the best deal.

Batman finally has a dad… again. After Alec Baldwin dropped out of the role of Thomas Wayne in the upcoming Joker standalone movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, director Todd Phillips had a tall order ahead of him. Who would they find that could play the patriarch of the Wayne family?

According to ComicBook.com, that person is none other than former Devious Maids and Person of Interest star Brett Cullen. Interestingly, this won’t be the actor’s first time in a Batman universe film. He previously played a congressman in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. Additionally, he had the role of Barton Blaze–father to Nicolas Cage’s Johnny–in Ghost Rider.

Baldwin cited scheduling issues when he announced he was no longer playing the role, days after it was reported that he had been cast. At the time, The Hollywood Reporter claimed that this movie’s version of Thomas would somewhat resemble Donald Trump in the 1980s, casting the Wayne Enterprises head honcho as a “cheesy and tanned businessman.”

The news of Cullen’s casting comes on the heels of Phillips sharing the first look at Phoenix’s titular character before he goes full-on psychotic clown. It’s been rumored that the character’s name is Arthur Fleck, with the movie telling the origin story of the clown prince of crime.

Joining Phoenix and Cullen in the film are Deadpool 2 breakout star Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro, Marc Maron, and Frances Conroy. The standalone Joker movie currently has no release date, though production is underway.