Ryan Coogler's The X Files leads

Himesh Patel joins Danielle Deadwyler in the pilot for a new take on The X Files written and directed by Ryan Coogler.

For Hulu, so here’s hoping That Guy doesn’t get to decide if it goes ahead.

Hunter: The Reckoning - Deathwish

Trailer for an XBox game due next summer, from the makers of RoboCop: Rogue City who can certainly hit the vibe. Fingers crossed for a smooth development run.

The End Of Oak Street

It’s a pleasant surprise to get a trailer for an interesting movie I hadn’t heard of. The End Of Oak Street (trailer) (Empire talk) looks like a La Brea situation where a suburban street is transported to dinosaur times, stars Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway and is written and directed by It Follows creator David Robert Mitchell.

Late arriving horror heroes

An announcement for the new multiplayer game of John Carpenter’s Halloween has revealed that on the non-Michael side you can play Dr. Loomis or a deputy... after your first character dies.

Making a note of that idea for future horror games.

V5: Stolen 2.06

Vampire: The Masquerade

Stolen

2.06

Betrayal

Beck

Robin

Vince

Beverley holds the scroll case tightly. “This what you want? Back up.” She clenches her fingers and blood starts to drip out around her nails - and hisses and steams as it hits the floor, and she holds a hand over the case, ready to destroy it.

Vince takes a step back.

--

Outside, Robin knocks out Beverley’s driver with a single blow, then realises he’s concussed and needs medical help. He also pauses at the man’s exposed neck.

Making himself focus, he texts Beck that they’re at the dropoff point.

--

Slice of life games

A question on the World Of Darkness Discord about how to make more slice-of-life sessions. As I ran a Vampire: The Masquerade game which went this way, Last Dance:

I stumbled into running a slice-of-(un)life game because I got a group of friends in a suitably relaxed space, so as far as I can tell it very much depends on them.

But to try to help, I did include more “hangout” scenes, like going to a club to see a band and it not then shift to seeing an enemy there or something.

It helped that it fit with the setup, the PCs being in a band, so leant itself to low-stakes sessions, dealing with mortals and other Kindred on the music scene, only occasionally getting into general vampire trouble.

It also helped to have some examples among the SPCs, Kindred who were focused on mundane things. Like a had a couple of Harpies who’d just show up to parties and chat casually, getting on fine with the PCs.

Daredevil: Born Again 2.01

Daredevil: Born Again season two begins and gets to the cop-kicking part pretty quickly.

V5: City Of Angels 38

Vampire: The Masquerade - City Of Angels session 38

Paris got to be scared of new things as well as possibly dealing with some familiar things.

Deleted scene:

“Quoth the raven...”

“Not enough.”

Happy birthday Cat!

Wonder Man season two

Wonder Man getting a second season is a pleasant surprise.

Starfleet Academy 2

So the forces of evil in charge of Paramount have decided sixty years of Star Trek is too many. I mean I get it, I’d cancel something that tells me I’m an evil shit too.

Alex Kurtzman writes to the cast, crew and viewers.

Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet premiered on this day in 1956. So as we mark sixty years of Star Trek consider seventy of one of its parents. And celebrate the naming of the comics shop franchise.

Star Wars shooting day one

Star Wars began filming fifty years ago today.

Conpulsion games are up

Conpulsion RPGs up for prereg

Me? Run something? Hahahahano

Nicholas Brendon

54 is no kind of age for this.

The hosts of Buffy RPG page shared a video from him just five days earlier, talking about art, the weather and coffee. He was in a good place.

V5: Stolen 2.05

Vampire: The Masquerade

Stolen

2.05

Who Can You Trust?

Beck

Robin

Vince

Beverley meets Beck as arranged.

Beck can see Robin hiding, and see him tense, ready to spring, giving him a warning look.

He asks her to steal the Book of Nod fragment from Astor, if he already has it and is looking or more buyers. Noting the urgency, she recalculates her fee for a strike tonight.

Robin forces himself to wait for her to go before joining Beck.

Vince strolls up to join them.

Beck narrows his eyes. “What are you doing here? I don’t want you worming your way into this, unless you can actually help.”

“I can always find a way to help.”

“Sure you can, you slimy bastard.”

“Well, emotions seem high, perhaps a nice meal would help? I saw a couple of gentlemen at the pub shaking hands with their left hands?”

“I do not sully myself with the blood of inebriates.”

“I’m sure they were just having something light.”

“Perhaps you could do something for me instead?”

“Oh, I’m sure.”

“One of my bride is also helping our sire’s fundraiser. I don’t want to sabotage her, but I would like...”

“Revenge?”

“No, just to outshine her... a little.”

“I’ll see what I can do. But I’m just a little fish here, I’d never dream of crossing you.”

“Good.” Beck smiles thinly. “But there’s no need to be afraid of me. Well, besides the obvious.”

The three go their separate ways. Beck making sure the others aren’t following him this time.

Single Girl, nananananana Single Girl

Been a long time since I edited a fan vid, but I have just the song for Ready Or Not:

Lush, Single Girl

Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come

Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come (trailer) starts immediately after the original, embiggens the setting as lightly hinted at, retcons a minor detail to be a major plot point and - yes! - has Sarah Michelle Gellar getting stabby in horror-comedy action.

Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton bounce off each other nicely. The enemies this time aren’t all as inept as Grace’s inlaws in the first, Gellar’s Ursula and Shawn Hatosy as her brother Titus providing most of the serious threat. The funniest fight with a couple of standout gags (one referencing the Schwarzenegger oeuvre) is intercut with the most serious, which was an interesting choice but does deflate the fun one for me.

Since it can’t match the surprise of the original ending it plays that card a few times unexpectedly.

Lacking that surprise and not being so nicely self-contained means it doesn’t hit as well for me as the original, but it’s still big fun.

The creators compared the setting expansion to John Wick and this is pretty literal, but does mean I got something Wick failed to provide in four and a half movies.

Spring

Well, it’s not snowing.

I have been summoned

Someone just asked for ideas for low-level powers and sources characters could have in a Buffy RPG.

I typed quite quickly for a few minutes there.