GTA Online Celebrates Independence Day: Business Battles Rewards, Doubled Missile Base Series Rewards, Discounts, and More

GTA Online Celebrates Independence Day: Business Battles Rewards, Doubled Missile Base Series Rewards, Discounts, and More

Celebrate Independence Day in GTA OnlineSpecial Business Battles Rewards, Discounts and More

Procure some rare patriotic gems alongside the customary GTA$ and RP rewards this week in Business Battles – including the Statue of Happiness T-Shirt or the Supa Wet Beer Hat. Plus take home timely items like the Firework Launcher, the Liberator Monster Truck and celebratory clothing and Face Paints for 50% off and much more.

Take 50% off celebratory gear, vehicles, accessories and more through July 8^th
Double Rewards in Missile Base Series
Go underground and earn Double GTA$ & RP in the Missile Base Series, competing in tense team-based modes like Every Bullet Counts, Juggernaut, Slasher and more - deep within the bowels of Mount Chiliad.

Get a chance to win the Western Sovereign
This week, the Western Sovereign is also up for grabs on the podium at The Diamond Casino & Resort. Point it in the general direction of a ramp and jump it over a local landmark. For our sake and yours: please wear a helmet. Beer hats count as helmets, right?

DISCOUNTS
Mammoth Avengers and their customizations are 60% off, too. Plus, avoid the huddled masses and retreat to the safety of a heavily discounted underground Bunker, or take advantage of sales on a wide range of other properties, vehicles and customizations:

50% Off Arcade Properties

50% Off Vehicles:

• All Yachts
• Mammoth Thruster
• HVY APC
• Pegassi Oppressor Mk II
• Mammoth Tula
• RM-10 Bombushka
• V-65 Molotok
• Principe Deveste Eight
• Emperor ETR1
• Bravado Gauntlet Hellfire
• Buckingham Luxor
• Buckingham Luxor Deluxe
• Buckingham Swift
• Buckingham Swift Deluxe

50% Off Independence Day Specials

• Liberator monster truck
• Sovereign motorcycle
• Musket
• Firework Launcher
• Vehicle Horns
• Tire/Parachute Smoke
• Face Paints
• Clothing
• MOC Liveries
• Mk II Weapon Livery
• Haircuts
• Masks
• Firework Ammo
• USA Parachute Bag

70% Off All Bunkers, Hangars and Facilities 

TWITCH PRIME

GTA Online players who have connected their Twitch Prime accounts to Social Club can earn the first in a new round of GTA$200,000 bonuses just by playing between July 2nd - 8th. You'll be able to earn up to GTA$1,000,000 in bonus cash between now and July 29th.

Plus, get a rebate on the base property purchase price of Pixel Pete’s Arcade, 70% off the Declasse Mamba roadster and 80% off the V-65 Molotok jet fighter.

To ensure access to future benefits, make sure to visit Twitch Prime and sign up.

PLAYSTATON PLUS BENEFITS

As a special benefit for PlayStation Plus members, play between now and August 5th to get GTA$1,000,000 deposited into your in-game Maze Bank account within 72 hours of log-in. Earn GTA$1,000,000 each month in GTA Online until the launch of GTA Online on PlayStation 5.

Head over to the Social Club Events page for a full rundown of all current special events, bonuses and discounts.

Check Rockstar Support for details and limitations.

Minecraft Dungeons: XBox One Review

Minecraft Dungeons: XBox One Review

Developed by Mojang Studios and Double Eleven
Published by XBox Studios
Platform: XBox One

There's no denying that Minecraft Dungeons is a light shallow game.

Mojang's take on the classic Gauntlet-style dungeons crawler may be derivative, but it isn't half fun. Fusing together the blocky imagery of Minecraft with the unending hordes of Gauntlet makes for an entirely pleasant way to spend some gaming downtime.

The game centres on you, as you take on the hordes of the Zombies, Illagers and Endermen as they impede you from trying to reach the castle owned by Archie, the rejected Illager who got possessed by an orb of evil.

There's a level of cutesy to Minecraft Dungeons which engages all ages and proves to be a tonic for some bitesize fun.

Weapons and skills can be augmented by crafting and using enchantments to power up your inventory. Plus collecting gems throughout gives you the chance to randomly collect other materials to use to your advantage.

While it may lack some of the patented Minecraft crafting requirements, Minecraft Dungeons transfers the blocky aesthetics to the game, and ensures fans of the Mojang experience aren't left out.

But crucially, it doesn't become so entrenched to the original game that it is not approachable for non-fans. You don't need to know your Illagers from your Zombies to be part of it. And along with an online team up and the chance to expand the leads out, the game really does owe a massive debt to Gauntlet.

More Minecraft Fun-geons than a Dungeon dwelling experience, this easy and breezy game is perfect all ages family fare, that's as addictive as it is playable.

The Grudge: Blu Ray Review

The Grudge: Blu Ray Review

With its split time narratives and its desire to try and do something different with Ju-on, The Grudge's 2020 outing has laudable intentions.

This time around, the curse of the angry ghost is brought to America, and a cop (Riseborough, channeling Scandi chic and dour faces) sets about investigating the murders in a suburban house, that have plagued generations.

But the more she investigates, the more drawn into the world she becomes - and the more she faces the possibility she will be taken....

The Grudge has an intriguing premise - but by stretching it out across three time different periods, and chopping and changing the narrative, the film denies the movie going audience the one thing a good horror movie should give them - frights.

Less a jump fest, more a choppy psychological piece, this outing for Ju-on, which began back in the early 2000s when Ringu and its ilk were popular, feels like a frustrating exercise in tedium and endurance, a haunted house horror that barely has the frights to match its macabre machinations.

Riseborough is gritty enough, but doesn't get enough to do with a script that demands she's more dour-faced than anything else. Bichir adds yet another horror outing to his CV, but his grizzled detective does little but grumble about proceedings and warn of horrors.

Weaver impresses as a suicide assistance nurse, but with the time jumps, the film loses the build up of tensions when it needs them the most, and each set piece leads inevitably to where you expect it would - and where the script has already shown you. There's little to surprise here, making the 90 minute run time still feel like time is going backwards.

Simply put, The Grudge is a drudge, one of 2020's worst and most frustrating missed opportunities. 

Richard Jewell: DVD Review

Richard Jewell: DVD Review

If Richard Jewell achieves anything, it'll be proof that the best performances come from unshowy actors determined to fall into their roles and make the best subtle use of their time on screen.

Eastwood's tale of one man caught in a maelstrom is perfect for his ageing Libertarian views, as he aims a salvo at the media and pushes the old ways of the American dream.

Hauser plays Jewell, a vulnerable oaf caught in his belief of authority and his inability to see the system is out to get him and manipulate him when he's accused of bombing Centennial Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

With his profile fitting the FBI's suspicions he's not the hero he's hailed as after he saved many in the park, Jewell finds his life - and that of his mother's - caught in the headlights.

Richard Jewell benefits from terrific turns from Hauser as the wronged man, Rockwell as the lawyer who decides to take the case after years of friendship, and Bates' silently-stoic-but-ultimately-rising-to-the-occasion mother.

When it concentrates on this triumvirate, the film packs a power punch that's subtle, unshowy and ultimately engrossing.

Which is why it's a shame that those swirling around Jewell's escalating plight, and those plotting his downfall, are nothing more than once-over-lightly stereotypes and caricatures.

From Wilde's contentiously sleazy reporter Kathy Scruggs who's made to trade sex for scoops (something the film's been slammed for) to Hamm's just bad FBI agent who was caught off guard when Jewell discovered the bomb, the film's outer edges damage the relatively engrossing tale that ensues.

Throw in Confederate flags, a scene of the US flag being waved in full camera that Roland Emmerich would be proud of and the whole mix starts to feel a little queasy, a touch of retro jingoism of the worst order.

Ultimately, Richard Jewell deserves to be seen for Hauser and Rockwell's performances alone, their character moments dazzling quietly under the ensuing heavy-handedness that Eastwood and his writer deploy.

It may be following Eastwood's desire to laud the common man caught in the unstoppable force of

the Government crusade his latest films have pushed, but the more powerful moments of Jewell, thanks largely to Hauser's understated and overwhelming performance, soar high above some of the other misdeeds of the rest of the film.

Birds Of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn: DVD Review

Birds Of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn: DVD Review

Cast: Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez
Director: Cathy Yan

DC continues its potential reinvention after the success of Shazam!, Joker, Wonder Woman and Aquaman, by taking the very best part of Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie's twisted Harley Quinn and giving her her own adventure in Gotham.

In Birds Of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, Robbie's Quinn finds herself trying to help a girl in need when Ewan McGregor's Roman Sionis (aka Black Mask) puts out a hit on a young girl named Cass.

As Quinn's path collides with others in the city, a new team up emerges - the Birds of Prey.

Trashy, hollow, yet distinctly pleasing and anchored by a power performance from Margot Robbie, Birds of Prey And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is one heck of a blast from the DC Universe, a film that makes it hard to match up a universe where Joaquin Phoenix's Joker lives.

Some impressively choreographed action scenes really add a bite to the pop art aesthetic of Birds of Prey, and give the supporting characters a chance to shine throughout.

Which is a good thing, because with a slight plot (kid finds themselves on the wrong side of crime, and forced on the run), Birds of Prey doesn't exactly go more than surface deep throughout. And outside of Robbie's phenomenal turn as the spinning-out-of-control-after-splitting-from-Mr-J, there's not much room for the supporting characters to get anything more than a once over lightly approach, and a slight mickey-taking for Winstead's Huntress.

But given the whole affair is narrated by Quinn, the wise-cracking, spiralling story works best with its unpredictability, the crackle largely given by Robbie's performance. McGregor goes from hammy to menace with ease, though his Black Mask feels like a spoilt brat with psychosis for temper tantrums - he's still watchable, but only thanks to the frisson of uncertainty of where it's all going.

There is a feeling of flagging within Birds of Prey And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn as the movie searches for an ending after delivering a killer action sequence inside a fairground funhouse; but the irreverence that's been lurking underneath comes flying out to finish the proceedings.

It's these touches which prove to be Birds of Prey And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn's saving grace - the film looks like nothing else that's been witnessed in this world since DC began. A blast of colour, inventive fight scenes and a sensational leading lady gives the flick the emancipation from the gritty grim DC Extended Universe that it's been searching for.

Sure, Birds of Prey And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is style over substance, but when it looks this good and enjoyable, who cares?

Just Mercy: DVD Review

Just Mercy: DVD Review

That Just Mercy follows a conventional, cliched path for its tale of wronged black man seeking redemption is not a bad thing, but it lends the film a feeling of a lack of subtlety.

That it does it with Michael B Jordan leading the way, lends the film the agency it desperately wants from its beginning sequences to its obvious end, complete with its these are the people from the true story photos.

And yet in this quietly dignified story of Jordan's innocent lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, who, despite the exhortations of his mother who fears for his life, heads to Alabama to try and save Jamie Foxx's Walter McMillian from death row, every cliche and every dramatic beat lies in wait and is deployed when thematically necessary.

This may sound like a damnation of the film, but in truth, Just Mercy's strength derives from knowing the journey it's on, and being determined to tell it well, wrapping the whole thing up in an unshowy bow that gives it the kind of prestige sheen that won't attract awards praise, but will render its audience distraught with parts of its power.

Nuance is the order of the day with Just Mercy, and while Foxx is reduced to a side player thanks to his character's incarceration, Jordan's evident star power shines through. Sure, his lawyer doesn't resort to showmanship or tricks and ticks to get his result, but the story gifts Jordan with enough to ensure the overriding feeling is one of dignity in the face of overwhelming odds.

You've seen films like Just Mercy before - depressingly, these stories have been around from the John Grisham days to the Netflix contemporary series, and they've been told to varying degrees of success through the years. And sure, there are montages which show researching and lawyering at work, but Just Mercy does more than enough to justify its cliches, and exposes the horror of the Alabama state to the depressing maximum.

However, Just Mercy packs a powerful punch when it's needed.

An execution sequence is utterly heart-in-mouth horrifically burned into the screen, one of the few truly memorable moments from Just Mercy's overly bloated 2 hour run time that resolutely stands out and is deeply affecting. And Blake Nelson's performance as a witness in the original case gives the film a boost as it threatens to sag in its second hour.

Ultimately, Just Mercy and its depressingly familiar material is another of those has to be told tales that Hollywood occasionally does so well. What makes this one stand out though is a nuanced lead, a determination to showcase the grit under extreme pressure and the desire to lead with its earnestness.

The Day Shall Come: DVD Review

The Day Shall Come: DVD Review

Lacking the savagery of a lot of Chris Morris' earlier work, and based on "a hundred true stories", The Day Shall Come's tale of ineptitude reeks of some of the themes laid down in the brilliant Four Lions and which course through the veins of his work like Brass Eye and The Day Today.

In this latest, which heads to America, Morris tells the tale of Marchant Davis' Moses, who leads a church of six (basically, his family plus a couple of hangers-on) who are trying to build a farm in downtown.

Heading up the Star of Six, and constantly praising Black Santa, Moses is waiting for the day he and his followers are called to "overturn the accidental dominance of the white people."

But through an escalation of circumstances, Moses is thrust into the middle of an FBI office looking to make arrests of Jihadi to stand out, putting his idealism beliefs in the firing line of idiocy.

Essentially, The Day Shall Come sees Morris tackling themes he's already dealt with with his co-writers and perhaps more successfully so in Four Lions; the escalating one upmanship of those in power, the rise of idealism and the downtreading of the common man and their rights.

However what feels most disappointing about The Day Shall Come is how tame it appears to be when compared to the rest of his work.

Using his outrage more sharply, both he and co-writer Jesse Armstrong could have gone for savage barbs, instead of occasionally tame jabs. It's a major disappointment that feels under-developed and weak in parts, even if there are a couple of quotable moments which are up there with "Rubber Dinghy Rapids" from Four Lions.

The film's shot and edited in a workmanlike way, and Denis O'Hare and Anna Kendrick are simply okay in proceedings - it's with Marchant Davis the film rests. The debut actor's humanity shines through, and it's only the script that lets him down, leaving you feeling his arc's end is nowhere near as tragic or outrageous as it should have been.

Depressingly, The Day Shall Come will get lost in the pantheon of Morris' other work - it lacks the clarity and precision of the satirist that we needed for these times we live in, and consequently, it's underwhelming.