Wizardry, warfare, Wii on ballot for World Video Game HOF

The year 2023 has become the year of video game adaptations, with “The Last of Us” and “Tetris” taking center stage in the film and television zeitgeist four months in. But there’s a new, lighter and brighter video game film swooping in to change the tone from intense gripping drama to dreamy family-friendly delight.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” gives you a wholesome prankish druggy chameleonic video-game buzz; it’s also a nice, sweet confection for 6-year-olds. Historically, the proverbial problem with live-action movies based on video games — and “Super Mario Bros.,” a leaden dud released 30 years ago, had the dishonor of being the very first one — is that they jam-pack the screen with tropes and fights and characters and landscapes right out of the game, but when it comes to molding all that gimcrackery into, you know, a story, they lose the electronic pulse that made the game addictive. Digital animation is, and always should have been, the true cousin of video games (which are essentially computer fantasies that you control). And “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” takes full advantage of the sculptural liquid zap of the computer-animation medium. Yet it also has a fairy-tale story that’s good enough to get you onto its wavelength.

“Barbie” trailer is here. Warner Bros.

Royal Blood have announced two intimate warm-up shows ahead of their upcoming UK and European tour.The shows will take place at Nottingham’s Rock City on May 26 and Newcastle’s O2 City Hall on June 21 – giving fans the chance to see the band in a more intimate setting before they play a series of festivals and stadium support slots with Muse this summer.Both of the newly announced venues have a capacity of approximately 2,000, with tickets on sale on sale from 10am this Thursday (April 6) and available here.The duo – which is comprised of Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher – will then embark on a series of live performances throughout the UK and Europe throughout the summer. This includes appearances at festivals including Glastonbury and TRNSMT, as well as headline slots at Truck, Kendal Calling and Y Not festival.Alongside a number of headline appearances, including a homecoming event at Brighton’s On The Beach show in July, Royal Blood will also be performing as special guests for Muse during their run of UK tour dates.The rock duo will support Matt Bellamy and co at stadium performances in Plymouth, Huddersfield and Milton Keynes.

The world premiere of FX’s Justified: City Primeval is among the events scheduled for Opening Night of Season 12 of the ATX TV Festival, which runs June 1-4 in Austin.

Shemar Moore may have found success in primetime television with “Criminal Minds” and, currently, “S.W.A.T.”, but he’s never forgotten his soap roots.

Weyes Blood took to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert earlier this week (March 30) to perform ‘God Turned Me Into A Flower’ – check out the haunting clip below.The song is lifted from Weyes Blood (aka Natalie Mering)’s 2022 album ‘And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow’.Speaking about ‘God Turn Me into a Flower’, Mering told Genius that in the track, “I relay the myth of Narcissus, whose obsession with a reflection in a pool leads him to starve and lose all perception outside his infatuation. In a state of great hubris, he doesn’t recognize that the thing he so passionately desired was ultimately just himself. God turns him into a pliable flower who sways with the universe.”Check out Weyes Blood performing on Colbert below: Following her performance, Mering took to Instagram and wrote: “Oh boy.

in an SEC filing.“As we drive greater focus across our portfolio, we are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams,” Wilson wrote.The company puts out EA Sports FIFA 2023, Apex Legends and perennial favorite The Sims. In January, it announced it was canceling Apex Legends Mobile and Battlefield Mobile, which had failed to meet expectations, leading to EA also missing expectations for third-quarter earnings.Per Wilson’s email, the restructuring is expected to be completed by Sept.

Jordan Moreau Barry Berkman is behind bars in the final trailer for HBO’s “Barry,” which is ending its acclaimed run after four seasons. Season 4 premieres on April 16. In the official trailer, we see Barry (Bill Hader) eating alone and losing his mind in prison. In the Season 3 finale, the police finally catch the professional assassin turned Hollywood actor…who turned back into an unhinged killer last season. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t think it would end up like this. I am a good person; that is who I am,” Barry tells himself, as he shouts alone in the prison yard, points at unseen objects and screams and slaps himself in a mirror.

Gemma Owen has sent fans into a frenzy with stunning promotional shots for her new PrettyLittleThing collection. The Love Island runner-up, 19, shared some snaps of the collection to her Instagram, which she captioned: "In love with my NEW EDIT with @prettylittlething that is NOW LIVE!! "So amazing shooting this in Sicily with the incredible team… love you all [white heart emoji] SHOP NOW [unicorn emoji]." Showing off the stylish outfits, Gemma posed first in a white bustier top and floral skirt, before changing into a beige corset top and matching trousers.

, which tells the real-life story of the high-stakes legal battle that took place to secure the rights to the iconic game.In the film, Taron Egerton stars as Henk Rogers, a Dutch video game designer who travels to the Soviet Union in 1989 to meet the game's creator, Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Yefremov), and attempt to secure handheld rights to the game, so Tetris can be distributed alongside Nintendo's revolutionary new Game Boy system.«I always just feel if you seek to humanize somebody and make them relatable and three-dimensional, then you are doing them the right service,» Egerton says of taking on the role in ET's exclusive behind-the-scenes look at , which also includes interviews with the real-life Rogers and Pajitnov, who recall their first meetings in Russia in a secretive, dimly lit room that «definitely had some KGB guys in there.»«It was strange to watch somebody else be me,» Rogers admitted of watching Egerton, though he praised the actor for doing a «good job.»«Tetris crosses boundaries,» adds Rogers' daughter, Maya, who is now the CEO of Blue Planet Software and managing director of The Tetris Company. «It brings people of all cultures together… Not only is Tetris an amazing game, it was only possible because of this amazing friendship between Henk and Alexey.» premieres March 31 on Apple TV+.

Gwen Stefani was almost lost for words on Friday when she was surprised with an intimate celebration after joining her husband, Blake Shelton, on the latest stop of his Back to the Honky Tonk tour.The singer took to Instagram to share her disbelief after walking into a room backstage that had been decorated with balloons and banners to mark the first anniversary of her GXVE Beauty cosmetics line – see her shocked reaction in the video below.WATCH: Gwen Stefani in disbelief over surprise celebration with Blake SheltonGwen appeared completely taken aback by the sweet gesture and was joined by Blake and some other friends, including GXVE ambassadors, who all raised a glass of champagne to toast her incredible achievement. Throughout the video, Gwen can be heard repeating: "That's so nice.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Lego’s answer to “Mario Kart” will drive into the video game market in May with the arrival of “Lego 2K Drive.” But the execs behind the title assure Variety this game has way more to it than just racing. The driving adventure game comes from Take-Two Interactive publisher 2K and developer Visual Concepts, and will feature a game play experience “with a vast, open world where players can build any vehicle, drive anywhere and become a Lego racing legend.” “Yes, it is a racing experience but, actually, it’s just about enjoying driving and digging into those things that you can only really get if you’re adding Lego into the mix,” Kate Bryant, head of licensed games at Lego, told Variety. “So the cars transform — that’s super Lego-y, the idea that you can take and remix things and build your own cars.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max is developing a drama series based on the life of Heidi Fleiss, Variety has learned exclusively. The untitled series hails from writer and executive producer Maggie Cohn, who most recently served as the co-showrunner on HBO Max’s critically acclaimed limited series “The Staircase.” Fleiss will serve as a consultant on the project. Emma Tillinger Koskoff (“Joker,” The Irishman”) of First Love Films will also executive produce, along with Alex Goldstone (“Dickinson”) for Anonymous Content, Bill Gerber (“Muhammed Ali,” “A Star Is Born”) of Gerber Pictures, and David Bernon, Paul Bernon, and Sam Slater of Burn Later Productions (“Support the Girls,” “Mile 22,” “Drinking Buddies”).

“the world’s hottest grandma” says she’s ditched the subscription site because it’s become too “smutty.”Gina Stewart, 52, generated worldwide headlines when she started sharing steamy content on the platform years ago, with fans fawning over the gamesome grandmother.But now the Australian bombshell says she’s turned off by the site’s lack of exclusivity. “Due to so many people joining and all of the hardcore pornography, it’s lost its luster a bit,” the sexy star complained to Jam Press.

“Did I Ever Tell You This?”The 75-year-old said he was soon diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, undergoing chemotherapy until he switched to a new drug he expects to take every month for the rest of his life.“I am alive and well and I have been in remission for 8 months, which feels really good,” he said in a video shared on the platform Friday. “And I’m alive and kicking and I’m going to work.”A post shared by SamNeillTheProp (@samneilltheprop)Neill, who has been in remission for 8 months, said he’s diving back into onscreen work within days alongside Annette Bening in the limited series “Apples Never Fall.”“I’m very happy to be going back to work,” Neill told his 542,000 followers. “Let’s not worry too much about ‘all that’ because I’m fine.

George Yang “Resident Evil 4” was first released on the Nintendo GameCube back in 2005. Since then, it’s been hailed as one of the best video games of all time. Its goofy dialogue and action-based gameplay made for an entertaining adventure with government agent Leon S. Kennedy as he rescues the president’s kidnapped daughter, Ashley, from a mysterious cult. Almost 20 years later, Capcom has now remade “Resident Evil 4” from the ground up. When it was first announced, I thought to myself, “This game holds up and it doesn’t need a remake.” I was dead wrong. This remake of “Resident Evil 4” is amazing as it manages to honor the original, but also sets itself apart from it.

Full Disclosure: Sue me but not only have I never played 80’s iconic video game Tetris, I had never heard of it before encountering this new film, Tetris, which world premiered tonight at SXSW and comes from Apple Original Films, I realize that probably makes me a bit of an oddity to the Gameboy generation, but I can only say my lack of knowledge on this product did not hurt one bit in being wildly entertained by a movie that tells its origin story. In fact it seems to be part of an encouraging, but unlikely, new genre this young year: movies all about the backstory of well known products – Blackberry from IFC and Paramount; Flamin’ Hot from Searchlight; and now Tetris from Apple. All three have been on display this week at SXSW (Blackberry actually premiered at Berlin), and if you think watching the emergence of a smart phone, a Cheetos brand, and a single player video game is , well uh, less than compelling, think again.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic At last, a video game movie that’s more than just a video game movie. In theory, “Tetris” — that primitive and highly addictive block-stacking strategy game — doesn’t lend itself to the big-screen treatment any more than Rubik’s Cube or Tic-Tac-Toe might. But Noah Pink has found an ingenious solution to a classic puzzle. The screenwriter realized that there’s more to Tetris than most people knew. Namely, there’s a terrific backstory about how this Soviet-hatched computer software made its way over the Iron Curtain, and telling it could play like a Cold War thriller as three teams of Western rivals race one another to Russia to secure the rights.

Back in 2017, director Denis Villeneuve and producer Ridley Scott delivered “Blade Runner 2049,” a legacy sequel to the 1982 film that brought back Harrison Ford as the titular Blade Runner, Deckard. The events of that film left the door open for a direct sequel with a replicant uprising, however, plans for a spinoff series “Blade Runner 2099” from Alcon Entertainment and Scott Free Productions became the priority as it landed at Amazon.