The biggest night of the year for gaming fans has come and gone, and it brought all the usual awkward theatrics you would expect from an event of this ilk. Like the good old days of E3, Geoff Keighley never fails to deliver strange and absurd skits that might make you groan. But it does just so happen he has a talent for doing so, as does he when it comes to creating the sense of occasion for an event like this.

I would consider myself a fan of Call of Duty. Hearing about it growing up, I was always very interested in it, purely because of the gaming phenomenon that it promised to be. It is known as one of the most basic and surface-level gaming franchises due to its popularity and generally quite simple concept, but there is a reason it is so popular and so profitable.

Wicked and I have a very conflicting relationship, both on stage and screen. It was the first (and one of the only) stage productions I have ever seen, and that is an art sector I know next to nothing about. The Wizard of Oz was a beloved classic in my house growing up, serving as the perfect Sunday afternoon wind-down film after a much-needed roast dinner.

Telltale Games is a studio that will always be remembered for some of its brilliant narrative games that echoed choose-your-own-adventure stories of old in their presentation. The idea to use that old, but effective, model and essentially create an interactive TV show was a stroke of genius, and it gained them a great deal of success. Many will think back to their…

Lynne Ramsay is recognised as one of the great modern British directors. A true examiner of humanity and our psyche, she has made many hits, such as You Were Never Really Here (2017) and We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011). Dealing with many complicated protagonists and characters with a lot going on under the surface, it is clear she has a talent for interpreting those complicated feelings through the vessel of cinema.

The Ninja Gaiden games are a series that I have only really gotten into in the last year or so. Braving the definitive remastered trilogy after the many horror stories of its punishing difficulty was not a task I took lightly, and it certainly pushed me to my limits. The third one in particular is so unforgiving and brutal towards the end that the Xbox achievement for finishing the game alone is only unlocked by 1% of players.

Colleen Hoover is an author who, in the past few years, has rocketed into fame and success quite quickly. As a lot of people find these days, TikTok was the main reason for this, particularly one of its small subcultures: 'BookTok'. Having a steady and successful career before this surge in popularity, it was only natural that her back-catalogue would be eaten up by that community and made increasingly popular.

Luca Guadagnino's directorial work has been varied in terms of its critical acclaim through the years. A great deal of his earlier work struggled to hit the mark and was generally received negatively, like The Protagonists (1999) or Melissa P. (2005), and it took a while for him to really hit his stride. I Am Love (2009) saw one of his first great successes, and it seemed from that point, he had found his forte.

Chloé Zhao, as a director, is an expert at letting her films breathe and showcase true emotion whilst doing so. There is a quietness to her work that lets those emotions thrive during slow buildups and scenes that have no real urgency in ending. I have not seen her directorial debut of Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), nor The Rider…

Back in 2020, Ghost of Tsushima took the world by storm, achieving worldwide acclaim for its incredible rendition of a Samurai story. Developed by Sucker Punch, famously makers of the Sly Cooper and Infamous series, they brought a realistic approach to their more fantastical library. Set in the Kamakura period of Japanese history, with the very real backdrop of the 1274 Mongol invasion, it placed players in the shoes of Jin Sakai.

I was lucky enough this week to see a couple of films at the London Film Festival on tour, at my local independent cinema, Showroom in Sheffield. It always feels good to not just see films very early, but also in a room full of people who live and breathe film, being fully swept up in the occasion of an event like this.

Sports films are generally a tired formula. A grizzled veteran steps back into the fold, or a hotshot rookie is whisked away into a world that he thought he knew everything about. They start off winning, thinking they are truly the best to ever do it, only to be massively knocked down a peg by their first loss. They grovel a bit, then get straight back to training and working hard (cue the…

Developer Supergiant's impeccable rogue-lite Hades was one of the heaviest hitters in the indie game scene, and it took the world by storm. With its intelligently told story, filtered through each run the player took through the underworld, it went constantly from strength to strength. Whether you were soaking up its excellent combat, well-told story, or its fantastic atmosphere, there was a lot to love with this great title.

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the biggest names in cinema and is praised by many as one of the greatest directors ever to do it. Ashamedly, his filmography is one of my massive cinema blind spots, having only watched Punch-Drunk Love (2002), which I love. It has never been out of spite or anything, merely just a case of not getting around to things in my watchlist, as per usual.

The action-thriller genre is one that has not had much deviation or real evolution in a long time. Key to its success is making characters that the audience cares about and giving them a good cause to fight for, which works for their character growth. In a broader spectacle thriller, the spectacle is the main focus, but in smaller-scale thrillers, the characters have to do a lot of the heavy lifting.

Kogonada is an interesting filmmaker whose roots go back to his own love and deconstruction of film. In his early career, he made lots of video essays on various TV shows, films, and directors. Being commissioned by the BFI for their 'Sight and Sound' magazine, he did lots of work for them and also the Criterion Collection. This is a man well-versed in film, and his background as a film content creator shows both his love and broad knowledge of the art form.

After playing the original Hollow Knight properly, I was absolutely stunned at what such a small team could accomplish with enough heart and determination. The team in question is Team Cherry, and with the universal eagerness anticipating the release of its sequel, they have been flung straight into the limelight. Memes and jokes throughout game shows like The Game Awards, Summer Games Fest, and Gamescom have all asked the question: When is…

I have constantly praised 2025 for how much it has been treating us horror fans with some of its heavy hitters like Sinners, Weapons, and 28 Years Later. We are not even in October yet, and we have had some of the best horror has to offer. But the best part is, we have been treated to so many different types of horror films, and yet so many have been brilliant.

In 2013, James Wan's The Conjuring was a massive hit for Hollywood mainstream horror and also served as a spark that helped to trigger a great deal of possession horror and supernatural flicks. With the infamous Insidious (2010) establishing a start to this trend, along with the skyrocketing of Wan's career, subsequent films took clear inspiration from this film's popularity. …

Jay Roach is a filmmaker who generally makes films I would avoid like the plague. Straight-up comedy films like Austin Powers or Meet the Parents simply do not interest me, and they represent the exact type of film I cannot stand. Those typical family movie night products feel like they were made in a factory to serve that exact purpose. The kinds of comedies that have posters with pure white backgrounds with red text on them, of which there are way more than you might think throughout the noughties.

Darren Aronofsky is a director whose films I struggle to recommend. Not due to his filmmaking ability, I firmly believe the man is a genius. But he has a certain weirdness to his films that many may find distasteful. I rewatched Requiem for a Dream, which I would consider to be his most complete work, and it rattled me in a way that I have not felt since first watching it.

With the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong upon us next week, what better time to take a good look at the original Hollow Knight to see what makes it so brilliant? Published and developed by the independent Australian company, Team Cherry, Hollow Knight was released in 2017 and quickly shot to critical acclaim amongst a rather niche fanbase. After being unveiled in 2014 on Kickstarter and backed by 2,158 people, who had faith it would be something special.

After a year that has pretty much been dominated by horror films, it was only natural that modern horror master Ari Aster was summoned to throw something of his own making into the mix. Known, of course, for the endlessly freakish and influential Hereditary back in 2018, Aster already cemented himself as a director to watch after that film. Yet his filmography afterwards has been a bold one, refusing to be tied down as a horror auteur and instead using his platform to try new things.

The Mafia series has never been one that I have had a particular affinity for, but I can appreciate it for what it is. I have not played the original game, but I did play the excellent Mafia: Definitive Edition, a remake of that original game that came out a few years back. Trying the other games in the series, I never really got that same feeling that I did from that game.

With the recent Weapons and The Monkey, plus the likes of The Substance and Bodies Bodies Bodies in the past few years, comedy-horror in the 2020s has really managed to find its footing. We have had spoof horror for a long time, but there has never really been an attempt to actually create something that tries to scare. You do not watch…