Tag: canceled
‘Deadstream’ review: A ‘canceled’ prankster crashes a haunted house for likes
The internet is full of horrors, but there’s a unique grotesquery in the Youtube prankster. Desperate for followers, this reckless fool refuses to take anything seriously or consider anything sacred — except for their sponsorship deals. Inevitably, their quest to shock and awe audiences will go too far, drawing the attention of more than their fans. A wider world disgusted by their ruthless idea of humor could spark so-called cancellation, costing them access to monetized media platforms.
Now, imagine such a clown tossed into a haunted house, where he might face a grim comeuppance. This is the mercilessly clever setup of the SXSW premiere Deadstream, a wickedly fun found-footage horror movie that offers scorching commentary on internet fame.
In a frenzied opening, audiences are given a crash course on internet personality Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winter), star of the prank video series “Wrath of Shawn.” Once a sensation, Shawn has been disgraced over some scandal he won’t address directly, but he has a plan for internet redemption. He will livestream a late-night tour of a supposedly haunted house. And to up the ante (and keep his only remaining sponsor happy), he’ll run toward any danger and purposely provoke any grisly ghost he can. Naturally, his predilection for provocation will throw this joker into a night from hell, complete with paranormal activity fearsome and funny.
There’s a dark joy to watching Shawn be tormented by the spirits he dared trifle with. When something goes bump in the night, his boyish bravado vanishes into cowardly squeals, which are hilarious. As he races through the rundown house, trapped and terrified, the shaky-cam cinematography combines with a frantic physicality that is knowingly played for laughs. Best of all, the perturbing poltergeists are turning the tables on the internet prankster, making him their punchline with probing fingers and gleeful jump scares. Still, even at a lean 87 minutes, this premise could have run out of steam if it weren’t for a mindful infusion of schadenfreude.
The filmmakers behind Deadstream had to make Shawn annoying enough that we relish seeing him in peril, but not so annoying that we’d rather just switch off this movie altogether. They make this delicate balance look easy, but there are a lot of moving parts to it. While Shawn is evocative of a special kind of self-aggrandizing troll, he’s constantly taken down a peg, not only by the haunted house’s spooky residents, but also by the commenters on his livestream, who openly mock him. So, we’re never tempted to take him too seriously. By keeping his scandal a mystery for most of the movie, Deadstream‘s writing/directing team prevent us from making a judgment call on this character out of the gate. And even if he is an obnoxious oaf, Shawn’s got a scrappy charm, whether he’s cracking dumb jokes or slap-fighting for his life.
This approach to their protagonist is all the more impressive because Shawn is played by Joseph Winter, who co-wrote and co-directed the film with his partner in life and filmmaking, Vanessa Winter. Too often, actor/writer/directors overestimate how charming they actually are as leads. But rather than making himself the adorkable hero or the beloved boy wonder, Joseph served himself up as a quivering, caterwauling joke. His fearlessness in playing the fool follows in the footsteps of iconic horror-comedy actor Bruce Campbell, which sets up the film for some more splendid similarities to Evil Dead II.
While Deadstream drops allusions to some classic horror movie moments — including parodying the ominous opening title card of The Blair Witch Project — its connection to Sam Raimi’s brand of horror-comedy runs deep. Beyond the “trapped in a cabin possessed by evil dead” plotline, Deadstream also offers a wildly manic protagonist and practical effects that favor the gross and outlandish over the realistic. Admittedly, this last bit is probably partially due to the confines of a low budget. But lingering shots on ghoulish faces that are clearly rubber masks tell us the filmmakers aren’t hiding the seams of their effects; instead, they’re embracing the nostalgic appeal of real goo and goofy gore. This embrace of sometimes cheesy practical effects gives Deadstream a deliciously Midnight Movie aesthetic that’s true to its feral and funny soul. It’s just a blast to watch. More than that, it’s a surprisingly smartly structured found-footage movie, which is an increasingly rare feat!
Frequently with found footage (or mockumentary), filmmakers will come up with all kinds of cheats to get better cinematography and camera coverage than their concept would allow. Just don’t think about why the characters are filming where they’re going as they run. Don’t worry about how we somehow got a reaction shot to the camera carrier in this sequence. Look over there! A jump scare! Well, Deadstream doesn’t cut corners.
At the start of his livestream, Shawn lays out his multi-camera system, made up of motion-detecting security cameras and a phone camera rigged selfie-stick-style in front of his face, which has a wrist-watch switch to toggle between front and back lenses. So, when the cut leaps from his face to where he’s looking, it makes sense! Better yet, the security cameras automatically cutting to motion means the audience sometimes catches sight of something Shawn was too distracted to notice in his playback. In this way, Winter and Winter turn Deadstream into an interactive thrill, where you might well be hollering at the camera as if this were a real livestream gone horrendously awry.
This is precisely the kind of movie you hope to find in the Midnighters section of a film festival like SXSW. Full of sick thrills and dark humor, it feels like a real find. It doesn’t need a big budget, an established horror franchise, or big names to stand out. Briskly paced, wildly fun, and surprisingly smart, Deadstream is a bloody terrific good time. So, keep an eye out for it.
Deadstream was reviewed out of its World Premiere at SXSW 2022. The film is now streaming on Shudder.
UPDATE: Oct. 6, 2022, 11:18 a.m. EDT This review was initially published out of the film’s SXSW debut in March of 2022. It’s been republished in honor of Deadstream’s Shudder debut.
Canceled Dune GBA Game Has Released 20 Years Later With New Name
20 Years Later, Canceled Dune Game Resurfaces On Steam With A New Name
A canceled Dune game for the Game Boy Advance is now available for purchase on Steam–albeit without the official Dune license.
As spotted by The Spaceshipper on Twitter, what is now called Elland: The Crystal Wars originally began life in 2001 as Dune: Ornithopter Assault. The project was ultimately scrapped in 2002, but in an unexpected surprise, the game is now available for purchase on Steam, making it the first time the game has been publicly available.
Elland: The Crystal Wars ↖↗ will be released today on Steam.
This Game Boy Advance game was developed by Hungarian studio Soft Brigade 2 decades ago as Dune: Ornithopter Assault ↙↘, before being canceled by Cryo Interactive in 2002.
This is an unexpected return! pic.twitter.com/w9ap9Kfnxo— The Spaceshipper 🚀 (@TheSpaceshipper) October 3, 2022
“In 2001, development began on an ambitious Game Boy Advance game based on a popular franchise,” the game’s official Steam page reads. “Maybe the project was a little too ambitious, because it was canceled in 2002 and the team walked away. Twenty years later, this game finally sees the light of day, albeit without the original franchise license.”
A canceled Dune game comes to Steam under a new name, 20 years later
Google reportedly canceled a Stadia-exclusive follow-up to ‘Death Stranding’
One of the major problems that worked against Stadia from the jump was the fact that Google didn’t secure blockbuster exclusives for the cloud gaming service, which it will shut down in January. Sure, people were able to play the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2,Cyberpunk 2077 and Destiny 2 on the platform, but those are all available elsewhere. As it turns out, Google may have spurned the chance to have an exclusive title from one of the biggest names in gaming.
According to 9to5 Google, at one point Hideo Kojima was working on a Stadia-only follow-up to Death Stranding, which debuted on PlayStation in 2019 and later arrived on PC. Death Stranding has some asynchronous multiplayer elements. Other players might be able to use ladders, roads and other items that you place in the world, for instance. However, the planned follow-up was said to be a fully single-player game, which might have been the reason why Google canceled the project.
According to the report, Google canned the game, which was described as an episodic horror title, after seeing the first mockups in 2020. Stadia vice-president and general manager Phil Harrison is said to have made the final decision to kill the project. For what it’s worth, in a May 2020 interview, Kojima claimed one of his projects had recently been canceled.
Google reportedly abandoned the project in the belief that there wasn’t a market for single-player games anymore. Of note, CD Projekt Red just announced that Cyberpunk 2077 (which, again, was released on Stadia) has now sold 20 million copies, less than two years after its eventfuldebut. By mid-2021, Death Stranding itself had sold more than 5 million copies.
The lack of big exclusives is far from the only issue that led to Stadia’s downfall. A questionable business model and a seemingly rushed rollout didn’t help, and nor did Google’s reputation for ruthlessly killing off its own products. Even though Stadia has excellent game streaming tech and some passionate fans, it never took off as Google hoped. The company will shut down the platform on January 18th and issue refunds for all hardware and software purchases (except for Pro subscriptions). Ubisoft is working on a way to give people who bought its games on Stadia access to PC versions.
The news of Stadia’s demise blindsided developers, from giants like Destiny 2 studio Bungie to indie studios whose titles were supposed to hit the now-closed Stadia store in the coming weeks. As Axios notes, it isn’t clear whether Google has a broad plan to reimburse studios for costs they expected to recoup after launching their games on Stadia. There are concerns about what Stadia’s closure means for game preservation too. While Google didn’t secure AAA exclusives, Stadia has some indie games that aren’t available elsewhere.
Meanwhile, some are calling on Google to unlock the Stadia Controller’s Bluetooth functions. The argument is that, if people can more easily use the controller on other platforms, it’s less likely that the gamepad will become e-waste. The controller connects directly to WiFi for Stadia games in order to minimize lag. You can also hook it up to devices with a USB-C cable.
As for Kojima, he has a Death Stranding sequel in the works, according to the game’s star, Norman Reedus. It also emerged in June that Kojima has teamed up with Xbox Game Studios for his next title. That game will be powered by Microsoft’s cloud technology.
Google is sending Stadia to its infamous graveyard of canceled services
Shenmue Anime Series Canceled
Shenmue: The Animation, Adult Swim’s co-production Shenmue anime with Crunchyroll, has been canceled. Season 2 was reportedly already in the works before the cancellation, and the news was shared Wednesday via Twitter by Jason DeMarco, the senior vice president of action and anime programming for Warner Discovery.
The anime adapting the cult classic Sega game was first announced back in September 2020, and then aired in February this year. Season 1 has already been removed from Adult Swim and other streaming sites but as of this writing will continue to be available on Crunchyroll. It’s being speculated that the show unceremoniously got the ax as part of a wider purge by Warner Discovery of its properties following its merger earlier this year. You can read DeMarco’s tweet below.
Sorry guys. This happened. You can still watch all of the anime on Crunchyroll and it will still be available as digital downloads. And yes, it’s looking like no S2 of Shenmue, even though sadly- it did well enough that we were gearing up for S2. Maybe one day… https://t.co/WpM3O6NcSC
— SPIRAL CURSE DEMARCO (@Clarknova1) September 28, 2022
Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki, who has managed to keep the series going thanks to a passionate fan base despite prolonged waits between releases, said earlier this year that he doesn’t have any concrete plans for a fourth game. However, he still wants to create a Shenmue 4 that will be approachable and welcoming to players who are new to the franchise. It is possible that the game could tell a story completely detached from the events of the previous games, but Shenmue 3 itself ends on a cliffhanger.
DDG Says He Thought “Martin Luther King Canceled Racism Out” Until Backlash Over Halle Bailey’s ‘Little Mermaid’
With his new album ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ jetting toward its September 30 release date, expect to see much of DDG on screens in support of the forthcoming effort.
And while buzz for the set is growing, thanks in great part to its latest single ‘If I Want You,’ even bigger buzz is brewing for the tune’s co-star –
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