Culture Geno Ploeger Channeled His Idol Mat Franco in His AGT Audition A longtime dream is on the verge of coming true for Geno Ploeger, the 21-year-old protégé of America's Got Talent champion magician Mat Franco. On Night 2 of Auditions for AGT Season 21, Arizona native Ploeger finally got his chance to show off the magic skills he'
Culture Billy Bob Thornton on his full-frontal 'Landman' scene Billy Bob Thornton, 70, said he wasn't bothered by a full-frontal moment in Landman when speaking at the Newport Beach TV Fest. "I don't know what the reaction was," he said. "But obviously before we filmed, it was kind of like, 'Whoa,
Culture Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and Persona dominated Summer Game Fest 2026 With Nintendo’s final Direct on June 9 closing a week of showcases, JRPGs emerged as the clear winners. Big-name Western titles such as God of War Laufey and Gears of War: E-Day drew attention, but the biggest momentum went to Japanese role-playing games. In the last seven days Square
Culture Exodus leans on well-written companions to shape player choices In a post-Baldur's Gate 3 landscape, Exodus places heavy weight on its companions. Drew Karpyshyn, the narrative director, says the team wants them to feel like real people with pros and cons, to have conflicts among themselves and with the player, and to grow alongside Jun; their individual
Culture Mortal Shell 2 open beta was downloaded 250,000 times over the weekend Playstack says the open beta demo for Mortal Shell 2 was downloaded 250,000 times over the weekend. Developer Cold Symmetry called the response "incredible," adding that seeing new players and longtime fans dive in, share feedback, and get excited means a lot to the team. The studio
Culture Ten questions about the Ocarina of Time remake Nintendo’s summer Direct revealed a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo Switch 2, due later this year. The brief trailer offered little beyond a tapestry and a shot of Link asleep, so nearly everything else remains unknown. Key open questions include how Link
Culture Cryptic crossword No 30,029 1 down. Doctor oversees surgical procedures that went a bit wrong. 6 letters. 2 down. Riverside waiter, earring perhaps, with shaved head? 6 letters. 3 down. Smear bit of fish with virus onto vessel. 10 letters. 4 down. See 19. 5 down. Guard on visits reading novel. 9 letters. 6
Culture Kevin Costner's 'Horizon' Climbs Prime Video Charts After Theatrical Flop Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 was added to Prime Video on Jun. 1, and viewers have been repeatedly watching the over three-hour-long epic. The film has climbed into Prime Video's streaming charts and is the sixth most popular movie on the platform this week, behind Jack Ryan:
Culture Stephen King Praises Peacock’s Teacup as a One-Season Horror Binge Peacock's Teacup is a one-season pressure cooker of paranoia, body horror and ambiguous mysteries. Stephen King dubbed it "all killer, no filler." Though it never got renewed, that finality makes the show perfect for a late-night binge. The series adapts Robert McCammon's novel Stinger
Culture Attachment review – adoption and the care system in a short monologue Adoption and the care system are at the emotional centre of Julia Cranney’s new monologue. Mat (Paislie Reid) and her partner, James, enter early permanence — a pathway in which babies and toddlers are placed with prospective adopters who initially foster them, with the possibility the child could return to
Culture Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey: Tickets Now on Sale Tickets for Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey went on general sale June 9, 2026, after earlier rounds of sales quickly sold out. Early 70mm IMAX showings made available on July 17, 2025, were snapped up immediately, and when wider IMAX sales opened on June 4 demand
Culture Rich Paul gives rare insight into romance with Adele, reveals how they met Rich Paul said he met fiancée Adele "through a friend" and had "known her for some time," describing their early connection as something that "happened very organically" amid shared social circles. He admitted he’d heard her "monster hits" but hadn’t
Culture Donald Duck has extra fingers in Kingdom Hearts Collection art Square Enix’s newly announced Kingdom Hearts Collection (1–3), revealed during the Nintendo Direct showcase, features official artwork that fans have noticed looks off: Donald Duck appears to have a mismatched number of fingers. In some images he shows three fingers on his right hand and four on his
Culture Little Devil Inside misses Summer Game Fest again, 11 years after Kickstarter Little Devil Inside, first revealed on Kickstarter in April 2015 and spotlighted during Sony’s PlayStation 5 reveal stream, did not appear at this June’s Summer Game Fest or the other major showcases. The game has repeatedly promised release windows but has yet to arrive for players who first
Culture Trojan Horse popcorn bucket debuts for The Odyssey The Odyssey popcorn bucket has arrived, shaped like the Trojan Horse and designed to open and close in the middle to store popcorn. Fans had guessed either Odysseus's helmet or the Trojan Horse; the latter fits given that Christopher Nolan's film adapts both The Odyssey and
Culture Dragon’s Dogma 2 Dark Arisen DLC arrives, one-save file complicates access Nintendo Direct revealed Dark Arisen, a full expansion for Dragon’s Dogma 2. The add-on borrows its name from the original game’s praised expansion and introduces a northern region called Norgan, along with new characters, dungeons, weapons and skills. Dragon’s Dogma 2 only allows a single save file,
Culture Every Year After arrives on Prime Video June 10 Every Year After, adapted from Carley Fortune's novel Every Summer After (2022), premieres on Amazon Prime Video on June 10, 2026. The series follows Sam Floreck (Matt Cornett) and Percy Fraser (Sadie Soverall) when Percy returns to the lakeside town of Barry's Bay after a tragedy;
Culture The "Chronically Online" Are Having Their Moment Thanks to 'Backrooms' For years YouTube served as a proving ground for filmmakers outside traditional channels, and that path has yielded some of 2026's biggest hits. Recent films such as Backrooms, Obsession and Iron Lung trace back to creators who built careers on the platform — Kane Parsons, Curry Barker and Markiplier.
Culture Eve Hewson recalls 'bonkers' day Barack Obama visited Disclosure Day set Eve Hewson said she was intimidated by the very idea of Disclosure Day, and that the role of Jane Blankenship came after Steven Spielberg hand-selected her to read the script, having followed her since their work on 2015's Bridge of Spies. Spielberg told her he was "really
Culture From Ciara Miller to Ariana Madix: One designer's revenge dresses The Bravosphere’s recent reunions have produced a new kind of response to betrayal: the revenge dress. Ciara Miller stunned at the Season 10 Summer House reunion in a mesh-illusion Di Petsa gown with sculptural draping, while Ariana Madix debuted a gold Di Petsa “wet” dress when she began hosting
Culture Everything we know about Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is the third and final act in the Remake trilogy. It will launch in spring 2027, though no specific date has been set. Revelation is also the first game in the trilogy to arrive on all platforms simultaneously, including PC; there are no PC store pages
Culture MTG Fantastic Four Commander deck includes pricey Doctor Who reprint Wizards of the Coast’s Weekly MTG livestream revealed the decklist for a Fantastic Four–themed Commander precon in the Marvel Super Heroes set. Among the new Marvel cards, the most notable reprint comes from the 2023 Doctor Who Commander decks: Quantum Misalignment, originally in the Paradox Power deck centered
Culture Toby Fox: Deltarune Chapter 6 'developing well', Chapter 7 may start this year Toby Fox has outlined development plans for Deltarune as the game prepares to receive Chapter 5 later this month, a bit over a year after Chapters 3 and 4. He indicated that work on Chapter 6 is moving along and that Chapter 7 might begin sooner than many expect. In
Culture What the New Kingdom Hearts IV Trailer Reveals The new Kingdom Hearts IV trailer lays out a basic premise: a hooded figure in an Organization 13 cloak says they were transported to a new world and brought the darkness with them. That darkness manifests as Heartless, which Sora and his allies will confront. The world shown is Quadratum,
Culture Manhunter: The Final Cut Returns to Theaters 40 Years After Release Manhunter, Michael Mann’s 1986 adaptation of Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon, returns to cinemas next month in a newly restored version titled "Manhunter: The Final Cut." The film follows former FBI profiler Will Graham (William Petersen) as he hunts the serial killer nicknamed the "Tooth Fairy,
