Gamescom 2019 Square Enix Showfloor Line up

Gamescom 2019 Square Enix Showfloor Line up

MARVEL’S AVENGERS AND FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

LEAD SQUARE ENIX’S GAMESCOM 2019 LINE-UP

Square Enix Ltd., today announced its massive line-up of games and activities making their way to gamescom in Cologne, Germany later this month. From the 20^th - 24^th August in Hall 9, visitors can dive in and enjoy playable demos for Marvel’s Avengers and FINAL FANTASY® VII REMAKE,the critically acclaimed FINAL FANTASY® XIV Online, Trials of Mana™, as well as a playable demo for KINGDOM HEARTS III as seen in the release of the game earlier this year.

In a worldwide first, fans at Gamescom 2019 will play a hands-on demo for MARVEL’S AVENGERS! Gamers at the Square Enix booth will battle as Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, Black Widow, and Thor experiencing the preliminary incident of this original Avengers story, launching on the 15^th May 2020 simultaneously for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including Xbox One X, Stadia, and PC.

For the first time in Europe, visitors will experience the highly anticipated FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, with a hands-on demo showcasing the reimagining of the iconic original game that re-defined the RPG genre. Across 72 stations, show attendees will get their first look at the game before its release for the PlayStation®4 system on 3^rd March 2020.

Trials of Mana, the latest title in the revered Mana series and full remake of the RPG classic, will make its global debut at the show with a brand-new playable demo. Entirely rebuilt and revamped with action-RPG battle, levelling and skill systems as well as modern 3D graphics, attendees can check out an early section of the game, playing as just some of the memorable characters that the full game will offer when it launches in early 2020.

Critically-acclaimed MMORPG FINAL FANTASY XIV Online returns to gamescom, with a booth powered by Acer® latest Predator™ gaming hardware to maximise everyone’s gaming experience. Intense challenges, great prizes and an exclusive programme of stage shows with the makers of the game including Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida, and Main Scenario Writer and World Lore Creator Banri Oda will be taking place throughout the week, all culminating in a big cosplay competition on Friday 23^rd August. Finally, the largest FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Fan Gathering to ever take place in Germany is set to shake Cologne on the evening of Friday 23^rd August.

The SQUARE ENIX booth will also offer a sneak peek at merchandise prototypes for the upcoming FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, as well as an open demo space for visitors to try out the latest SQUARE ENIX PRODUCTS board games.

Life is Strange™ 2: Episode 4 ‘Faith’ debuts at gamescom 2019. Experience the trailer for the riveting next chapter in the Diaz brothers’ journey towards a new life in Mexico, as the story reaches its most thrilling and complex entry yet. The second season of the award-winning franchise from SQUARE ENIX External Studios and the Life is Strange team at DONTNOD Entertainment, continues on August 22^nd, 2019.

Booksmart: Film Review

Booksmart: Film Review

Cast:Beanie Fedelstein, Kaitlyn Denver, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis
Director: Olivia Wilde

Proving the girls can do it just as well as the boys (and even better), and staying remarkably fresh and vibrant from beginning to end pays great dividends for Olivia Wilde's Booksmart.

It's the story of Beanie Fedelstein's Molly and Kaitlyn Denver's Amy, two high school pals, who've nerded it up their entire time through high school to get to the colleges they wanted.

But upon discovering the lower achievers have also got into impressive colleges, Molly has a meltdown, fearing they've wasted their lives. So determined to cut loose at the end of year party, the duo decide tonight's the night.

However, the one big problem is they don't know where the party is....

It's tempting to categorise Booksmart as the female Superbad, but in truth, it's a lazy comparison.

Whereas McLovin et al set the tone for the genre, the one-last-blast-before-we-quit-high-school genre has been done to death.

Yet Booksmart, thanks to some impressive comedic performances, a zing of direction and a pumping soundtrack that boosts the energy levels throughout, barely falters at all.

Fresh without ever pandering, inventive without ever being cheap and just damn funny, the coming-of-age comedy gets the female touch - and even outdoes most of its competitors. (A drug trip is so excellently inventive, it genuinely surprises.)

Women leads that are relatable, people of colour and backgrounds all over the place and nary a male in sight makes Booksmart one of the genuine glass ceiling smashing comedies out there - without ever deliberately setting out to be "woke" or conform to a feminist agenda. It's in its own league, and as genuine to its protagonists and supporting characters as it should be.

Sure, there's the usual high school message about being true to yourself and suffering self-sabotaging, but thanks to its great leads' chemistry and comic timing, Booksmart is a whipsmart high school comedy that raises the bar substantially.

Long Shot: Blu Ray Review

Long Shot: Blu Ray Review

Imagine a wish-fulfillment West Wing romcom, set in the Seth Rogen Cinematic Stoner Universe that's mixed with heart and humour - and highs.

That in a nutshell is what Long Shot is.

Rogen stars as principled, but out-of-work journalist Fred Flarsky, who bumps into his former babysitter-turned-US-Secretary-of-State Charlotte Field (Theron) by accident at a party.

With a friendship rekindled, and with Field deciding to run for the presidency, Flarsky's recruited to the team as a speech-writer, much to the chagrin of Field's closest aides...

A little too long at two hours, Long Shot is a film which combines the usual Rogen stoner antics and outrageous crass moments and pairs them up with the kind of romantic elements previously seen before in many odd couple movies.

But whereas Rogen usually dials up the schlubby elements in his films, it's pleasing to note that in Flarsky's interactions with Field, rather than with his bros, there's a genuine warmth and feeling of an old relationship floating around. It helps build a plausibility for a romance that frankly is the classic out-of-your-league kind of material.

The film's other great strength is Theron.

Displaying an empathy and delivering many quips, Theron's the beating heart of Long Shot, a portrait of a woman who has it all, but whose inevitable path to romance is not to her character's detriment.

There's something of a Notting Hill style romance in here as well, but sparked through with R18 edges. Skarsgard trades well on a parody of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, one who has looks but little else behind the eyes and toothy grin.

It's not to say that Long Shot doesn't misfire from time to time - but it does so while dispensing some strong unexpected laughs during proceedings.

Occasionally, a tonal shift into drama is delivered with a cinematic whiplash that's hard to shake and the whole thing could easily lose some 20 minutes of its meandering in the final strait, but overall, the heart of Long Shot is hard to deny.

It may be a riff on the odd matched romcoms of the 80s, but given its commitment to two likeable leads and a few sentimental edges which benefit from a sharpness, Long Shot proves to be a deeply enjoyable movie to shake us all out of a mid-winter malaise.

Origin Access Adds To 192+ Games With Warhammer: Chaosbane, Vampyr & More!

Origin Access Adds To 192+ Games With Warhammer: Chaosbane, Vampyr & More!

“This month, we’re adding a handful of great games to the growing list of over 192 titles that cover a medley of genres and playstyles. We have a new entry from the storied Warhammer franchise, the debut of our most member-requested title, Vampyr, and a number of indie hits from Team17. 

Origin Access Premier exclusively adds Warhammer: Chaosbane Magnus Edition, the first hack-and-slash entry in the renowned Warhammer franchise, with an emphasis on action-packed co-op play (and humour). Choose a hero from four character classes and prepare for epic battles wielding some of the most powerful artefacts of the Old World. Additionally, Premier members can experience the Magnus Edition, which comes with a gold boost, unique character emotes, unique character pets, a fragment boost, and the season pass.

Origin Access Basic and Premier members can jump into one of the most requested and best action games of 2018,Vampyr. Play as newly-turned Vampyr, Dr. Jonathan Reid, where you must either find a cure to save the city’s flu-ravaged citizens or feed on those you vowed to heal. An indie buffet arrives as Team17 hits like Overcooked, The Escapist, Mugsters, and Yoku’s Island Express enter The Vault. Cook gourmet dishes under high pressure with your friends in Overcooked, or pinball yourself across the visually stunning world of Yoku’s Island Express. Additionally, indie darling Dear Esther and strategic adventure game Renowned Explorers: International Society join the growing list of available games.

In case you missed it, highlights from July’s drop included a number of new titles for Origin Access Premier members to enjoy:

• Madden NFL 20 – players become the face of their favourite franchise in an all-new single-player campaign, unlock new zone abilities across 50 players at launch, or build their dream roster in My Ultimate Team™
• Sea of Solitude – a poignant tale of loneliness, loss, and how fears can manifest as monsters, players can set sail across a beautiful and evolving world, where nothing is quite what it seems
• A Plague Tale: Innocence – one of the highest-rated AA titles of the year, this immersive story-writer adventure follows a young heroine and her brother as they struggle to survive against overwhelming odds
• Moonlighter – for both Basic and Premier members, this action-RPG with rogue-lite elements follows the everyday routines of an adventurous shopkeeper who dreams of becoming a hero 

Next month we’ll share a whole new set of games that will be joining the subscription in September across both the Premier and Basic tiers. Origin Access Basic membership lets PC players take full advantage of an ever-evolving collection of games and 10-hour Play First Trials for new and upcoming EA games days before release. Origin Access Premier members enjoy everything Basic has to offer plus get unlimited play of new EA games on PC first, the full games not just a trial, as long as they are a member. To learn more, visit https://www.origin.com/store/origin-access.“

Win Dumbo

Win Dumbo

To celebrate the release of Dumbo from Disney, Sony Home Entertainment is giving you the chance to win a copy!

About Dumbo

From Disney and visionary director Tim Burton, the all-new grand live-action adventure “Dumbo” expands on the beloved classic story where differences are celebrated, family is cherished and dreams take flight. 

Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) enlists former star Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) and his children Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins) to care for a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughingstock in an already struggling circus. 

But when they discover that Dumbo can fly, the circus makes an incredible comeback, attracting persuasive entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), who recruits the peculiar pachyderm for his newest, larger-than-life entertainment venture, Dreamland. 

Dumbo soars to new heights alongside a charming and spectacular aerial artist, Colette Marchant (Eva Green), until Holt learns that beneath its shiny veneer, Dreamland is full of dark secrets.
All you have to do is email your details and the word DUMBO!

Email now to  darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com 
Or CLICK HERE NOW  

The Chaperone: DVD Review

The Chaperone: DVD Review

With touches of a script from Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes and adapted from a book by Laura Moriarty, The Chaperone is a classy affair.

Set in 1922, when the teenaged Louise Brooks (Richardson, in another impressive performance) was given the chance to go to dance school in New York, The Chaperone's more the story of McGovern's Norma.

Norma is a Wichita native, who yearns to spread her wings. So when she sees the opportunity to accompany Brooks to the big apple, she seizes on the chance. Along the way, there is rediscovery and also challenges for both.

The Chaperone may tread a familiar path in terms of coming-of-age films and social mores, but what it offers up is a chance to revel in the brevity of Richardson's precocious turn as the sparkling Brooks and stay for the more nuanced subtle journey of McGovern's Norma.

The trouble is the film's more obsessed with Norma's story, than Brooks herself.

It's not that McGovern doesn't deliver in a somewhat starched story, but more that it feels like something aimed at the older crowd, rather than a younger generation steeped in the Downton world.

The period detail is wonderfully evocative, and there's much to admire in the visualisation of the Jazz age, but there's a dialled down feel to The Chaperone which suggests a more buttoned up affair than is narratively worth investing in.

Ultimately, The Chaperone walks you through a period of history and a story, rather than letting you experience it. It's not a fatal flaw, granted, but it is one which stops the familiar tropes from soaring and hitting an emotional level you'd want to be more fully engaged.

Late Night: Film Review

Late Night: Film Review

Cast: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow, Hugh Dancy, Denis O'Hare, Ike Barinholtz
Director: Nisha Ganatra

Aiming to smash the glass ceiling, but ending up more just politely tapping on it, Mindy Kaling's comedy Late Night will feel familiar to fans of the vitriolic Larry Sanders Show from the 1990s.

In Late Night, Kaling plays Molly Patel, a plant worker who ends up being a diversity hire on Emma Thompson's Katherine Newbury's late night show. Newbury is a legend, and has been on the circuit for years, but the show's on the wane, with viral clips and interviews with YouTube stars punishing them in the ratings.

So when the head of the network (Amy Ryan) decides to move Newbury along in favour of a newer foul-mouthed host (Barinholtz), Molly is caught up in the last great offensive to keep ratings high.

Essentially a romantic comedy with a side of showbiz and a dash of social commentary, Late Night treads the boards of familiarity with such geniality it's hard to fully hate it.

But the film lacks a punch that would translate to some interesting barbs and commentary on women in the workplace and women on TV. It feels like Kaling's written sadly from reality, but is a little too frightened to make the commentary needed to help it land in ways which would give it its power.

There's an underdeveloped romance sideplot, which swipes at MeToo, and a sweet relationship between Thompson and Lithgow that brims with reality and depth.

Yet it's not enough to make Late Night feel anything other than undercooked at times.

Thankfully, Thompson makes great fist of her barbed and occasionally bitter Newbury. You can see where it's coming from a mile off, but the joy of seeing an older woman in a lead in this is clearly what Kaling wanted for the film, and the fact the reality of late night TV in the US is scarcely inhabited by women speaks volumes.

Kaling plays on her innate likeability repeatedly, and the result is a fair film that offers some laughs - it's just with a sharper eye for the targets and a few wittier barbs, it could have been unstoppable.