Entertainment

Xbox and PlayStation fans both have anniversaries to celebrate today. While the console wars as we knew them may be over, it’s worth acknowledging the history of modern gaming and how we reached the point where Master Chief and Marcus Fenix can make the leap to PlayStation. Without the Xbox, the gaming landscape of the modern day would look radically different. While the PS4 may not have been the paradigm shifter that was the original Xbox, its global (and continued) success made it one of the best-selling consoles of the 21st century and helped set the stage for the PS5’s current dominance. With the state of play changing in light of the current generation’s impact on the gaming industry, here are the biggest reasons fans need to remember the launch of these two consoles and how the...

Even if action films tended to peak within the ‘90s, the 21st century saw a renewed interest in iconic franchises like Bourne, Mission: Impossible, Die Hard, Indiana Jones, and James Bond. However, no one would have predicted that the Fast series would end up becoming a phenomenon, or that Vin Diesel would end up becoming such a significant draw. Although there was a brief period in which the series looked like it was doomed, a clever switch of tones by Justin Lin turned this street racing series into an action-packed heist adventure. The Fast franchise has never had any degree of consistency, as the series is responsible for both guilty pleasures and some of the worst blockbusters in recent memory. There’s almost no guarantee that it will ever receive a proper conclusion, as Diesel app...

🎭 NEW! Indonesia Theatre Newsletter Get all the top news & discounts for Indonesia & beyond. Gamelan Kusuma Laras will present an evening of Javanese music for the public in the klenengan format. 🎭 NEW! Indonesia Theatre Newsletter Get all the top news & discounts for Indonesia & beyond. An informal music event in Java, a klenèngan features musicians who gather for a kind of jam session, often arranged by a family for a special event. Typically lasting until late at night, audience members are intimately involved, integrating...

Back in 2020, we announced a Kickstarter for a book. At first, a simple venture into book publishing, ended up turning in a 2+ year saga as we dealt with pandemics, global conflicts and on a personal level, massive life changing upheavals. Now, five years later, the book is heading to retail – Xbox: The Console & The Games is available – right now! Original Kickstarter Announce video We’d seen the constant demands for an opportunity to get hold of a copy of our first ever Kickstarter, Celebrating 20 Years of Xbox, and we felt awful that we don’t have the means to bring it to people on a large scale – even our ill-fated “second-print run” was a unsuccessful – people just don’t like the extra barrier of creating a Kickstarter account. We get it. Now, thanks to the very cool fo...

Before computer simulations and digital effects could make anything look real, filmmakers of the 20th century were already pushing the boundaries of what science fiction could be. Hard sci-fi from this era wasn’t about flashy battles or massive alien invasions, but it was about ideas. The sci-fi films from this era asked what it would be like to meet another life form or how technology might change what it means to be human. They approached space travel, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering not as fantasy, but as tangible possibilities grounded in real-world science and engineering. In this list, we take a look at the best hard sci-fi films of the 20th century. From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Gattaca, these movies built the foundation for everything that followed. They reflect...

🎭 NEW! New Zealand Theatre Newsletter Get all the top news & discounts for New Zealand & beyond. Amélie The Musical is based on the beloved 2001 French romantic comedy film Amélie, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The stage adaptation premiered in September 2015 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre before transferring to Broadway, where it opened on April 3, 2017, at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Despite closing on May 21, 2017, after 83 performances, the show found new life in London’s West End, earning three Laurence Olivier Award nominations in 2020, including Best New Musical. 🎭 NEW! New Zealand Theatre Newsletter ...

Gaming companies have reported sizeable write-downs on their India-linked assets for the September quarter, underscoring the sharp impact of India’s real-money gaming (RMG) ban on corporate earnings.Although the RMG ban has been in effect since August, the latest earnings cycle marks the first significant balance sheet impact beyond the immediate shutdown of cash gaming operations.US-headquartered Flutter Entertainment booked an impairment of $556 million this quarter after its India unit, Junglee Games, halted money-based rummy operations.Canada-based private equity firm Clairvest Group wrote off its investment in Head Digital Works, the operator of A23 Rummy. “During the second quarter of FY26, Head Digital Works experienced a material adverse regulatory development resulting from the Go...

Patricia Arquette is one of the most versatile and compelling actors of her generation. Throughout her career, Arquette has proven herself capable of navigating both the subtleties of indie drama and the larger-than-life demands of mainstream projects. With a career spanning four decades, she has continuously reinvented herself, moving effortlessly between movies and television. Arquette has built a body of work defined by emotional intelligence and a fearless commitment to her characters. The characters that Arquette has presented over the years reflect the fact that she's a multi-talented artist. Some of her best movies and series highlight how well she's able to humanize characters who might otherwise be considered irredeemably evil or at least difficult to empathize with. Other proj...

I was sitting in the Nashville airport finishing this list when I found out Todd Snider died, perhaps just a couple of miles away. Naturally, I was shocked, but after hearing about recent events in the troubled singer-songwriter’s life — his first tour in forever had barely begun when it was cancelled after some weird, convoluted tale in which he was supposedly assaulted and robbed, then allegedly harassed hospital staff, leading to his arrest — I guess I wasn’t too surprised. To be honest, I felt the same as I did when I heard about the death of Amy Winehouse, another singer who had a rough life: What a senseless, pointless waste. Snider deserved better. RIP Todd. If you don’t know about him, do yourself a favour and get acquainted with his music as you peruse this roundup of nearly 500 n...

Week 12 of the 2025 college football season could provide a chance for a major shakeup of the College Football Playoff field.Of the 25 ranked teams in the US LBM Coaches Poll, 23 of them will be in action this weekend, including a grand total of two top-10 matchups in the SEC that could shake up the entire 12-team field. No. 4 Alabama (8-1, 6-0 SEC) takes on No. 10 Oklahoma (7-2, 3-2), while No. 5 Georgia (8-1, 6-1) faces off against No. 10 Texas (7-2, 4-1).US LBM COACHES POLL: College football rankings shuffled as Oklahoma, Texas riseAnother key matchup will be No. 9 Notre Dame vs. No. 23 Pittsburgh, which has drawn enough attention for ESPN's "College GameDay" to return to Pittsburgh for the first time in 20 years.As has been the case all season, any team could be on upset alert on any g...