The Walking Dead returns to AMC for its fiercely anticipated eighth season, and its 100th episode, on Sunday, October 22nd. Big things are in store for Rick and the rest of his Alexandria Alliance as they battle tooth and nail against Negan and the Saviors.
Rick’s faced ferocious foes in the past, even entire factions and towns, but this time around in this war against Negan, things will be very different. According to director and executive producer Greg Nocotero, in fact, “dramatically different.”
IGN got to visit the set of The Walking Dead during the production of Season 8 and spoke to the cast and creative team about what fans can expect from this new season. With all-out war fully on the table, it feels like the story could be more vicious than ever. “This season is just balls to the wall action,” said Ross Marquand, who plays Aaron. “It’s just going to be a gnarly season. It’s going to be a rough and tumble season that a lot of people are going to be very excited to see, myself included.”
A new NBA season is upon us. As we all get ready for a new season of hoops action, the number one question on most of our minds is “Can anybody beat the Golden State Warriors?” The answer is “probably not,” at least if we are talking about NBA teams. However, what if we put together a dream team of basketball players from movies? Could they take down Steph Curry and company? That is what I have set out to do.
First, a few caveats. No real basketball players were considered. That means Michael Jordan from Space Jam doesn’t make the cut. Bill Murray from Space Jam is eligible, but he didn’t make the team because he wasn’t that good. Also, none of the Monstars are on the team, because they are villains, and I considered team chemistry very important.
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Note: this is a mostly spoiler-free review of the fourth season of Voltron: Legendary Defender. I’ll avoid getting too deep into plot specifics until the final, spoiler-marked section.
The third season of Voltron: Legendary Defender may have been too short for its own good, but the trade-off is that we have another batch of new episodes a mere two months later. Little has changed in those two months. Season 4 delivers a trademark blend of stylish action, complex storylines and goofy humor, proving once again that Voltron is a strong contender for being Netflix’s best original animated series.
Naughty Dog, the Sony-owned studio behind Uncharted and The Last Of Us, has responded to the claims of sexual harassment from a former employee. In a series of tweets this weekend, David Ballard, who was an environment artist at the studio, alleged that he was “sexually harassed at Naughty Dog by a lead,” whom he did not name.
“My work environment became extremely toxic afterward,” Ballard said, adding that the alleged harassment took place in late 2015. In February 2016, Ballard said he had a “mental breakdown” while at work and at this time PlayStation’s HR department got involved. He said he informed HR about the alleged harassment and they “fired me the next day.”
“They cited the company was moving in a different direction and my job was no longer needed,” Ballard said, adding that he was offered $20,000 from HR if he signed a document agreeing to the layoff and that he would not speak about the terms to anyone.
Ballard said he declined to sign this. He has been out of a job for 17 months. He said he has had interviews for new positions, and when a prospective employer asks why he left Naughty Dog, he allegedly tells them that he was “burned out by the crunch” because he is too ashamed to speak about his claims of sexual harassment.
Ballard went on to say that he’s speaking out now because of the “strength I’ve seen in others coming forward about their experiences in the TV/Film industry,” potentially a reference to the current situation regarding disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I will not let anyone kill my drive or love for the video game industry, my passions or life,” Ballard said.
Naughty Dog’s statement goes on to say that, “We have not found any evidence of having received allegations from Mr. Ballard that he was harassed in any way at Naughty Dog or Sony Interactive Entertainment.
It goes on: “Harassment and inappropriate conduct have no place at Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment. We have taken and always will take reports of sexual harassment and other workplace grievances very seriously. We value every single person who works at Naughty Dog and Sony interactive Entertainment. It is of utmost importance to us that we maintain a safe, productive workplace environment that allows us all to channel our shared passion for making games.”
Ballard’s LinkedIn page shows that he attended the Art Institute of Houston, earning a BFA in Media Arts and Animation. He worked as a 3D artist for TimeGate Studios from 2007-2008, working on the shooter Section 8. He joined Naughty Dog in February 2009, contributing to Uncharted 2, 3 and 4, as well as The Last of Us. Ballard moved to Ubisoft in 2014 in the position of senior environment artist, before returning to Naughty Dog in May 2015, where he held the title of multiplayer level layout artist.
Happy Death Day had a strong opening weekend at the domestic box office, debuting in first place with an estimated $26.5 million.
Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions’ latest thriller has already proven to be a success, as the Christopher B. Landon-directed film had a production budget of just $5 million. Happy Death Day is one of several recent horror films to perform incredibly well for Universal, joining recent Blumhouse successes like Jordan Peele’s Get Out and M. Night Shyamalan’s Split.
