Feature Archives

Mental health & wellbeing matters: feeling useless

by Simon Brew | Feb 16, 2022 | Feature

In our regular mental health and wellbeing piece, we're chatting this time about the times in life where we feel good for pretty much nothing....

The new normal: the indie developers changing our conceptions of difficulty

by Jon Bailes | Feb 15, 2022 | Feature, Gaming

Thanks to a new wave of game designers, difficulty's no longer a case of easy, normal, and hard

The film marketing campaign that endured for decades

by Alistair Ryder | Feb 15, 2022 | Feature, News

The promotional campaign for Cecil B De Mille's The Ten Commandments has endured even more than a London bus poster....

Old movies: an intro to Charlie Chaplin

by Sarah Cook | Feb 15, 2022 | Feature, News

Our old movies column returns with an introduction to one of the icons of silent cinema - the great Charlie Chaplin....

How to become a user researcher

by Steve Bromley | Feb 14, 2022 | Feature, Gaming

Start a career making games better with user research. Steve has all the details.

A Few Good Men, and the lost sex scene

by Simon Brew | Feb 14, 2022 | Feature

Aaron Sorkin's play of A Few Good Men quickly had its movie rights snapped up - but originally, Hollywood executives wanted to take the film in a...

Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, and the story of its extended cut

by Simon Brew | Feb 14, 2022 | Feature, News

The longer cut of Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves surfaced on DVD a while back - but it doesn't quite go in the way you may be expecting....

Film Quiz Friday: A Match Made... Somewhere!

by Mark Harrison | Feb 11, 2022 | Feature, News

As Valentine’s Day is coming up, our weekly film quiz matchmakers have had a go at inventing some new, more romantic versions of popular movies....

British movie podcast of the week: Mark and Me

by Em McGowan | Feb 11, 2022 | Feature

Some smashing film interviews await with our recommended UK independent movie podcast of the week: it's Mark and Me....

Examining Ghost of Tsushima's DLC masterclass

by Antony de Fault | Feb 10, 2022 | Feature, Gaming

Antony discovers that Sucker Punch’s biggest hit saves the best for last with its Iki Island expansion

Scarecrow Video: the world's largest remaining independent video rental store

by Sarah Philip | Feb 10, 2022 | Feature, News

Scarecrow Video is Seattle’s last video rental store, with over 138,000 titles ranging from new releases to extremely rare films that can only be f...

12 underappreciated pieces of John Williams music

by Neil Shepherd | Feb 09, 2022 | Feature, News

A salute to the brilliant John Williams, with 12 of his tracks that don't always get the love they deserve....

AI and rapid prototyping: the future of game design?

by Howard Scott Warshaw | Feb 08, 2022 | Feature, Gaming

Could AI help developers prototype games – or even design a triple-A hit from scratch? Atari legend Howard Scott Warshawhas a few thoughts

Resurrecting the hawk: Hudson Hawk, over 30 years later

by Mark Searby | Feb 08, 2022 | Feature, News

Mark Searby looks back at an infamous Hollywood flop, Hudson Hawk, that’s gradually built its audience over the last 30 years....

Old films: movie musicals of the Pre-Code era

by Sarah Cook | Feb 08, 2022 | Feature, News

Sarah Cook recommends some Pre-Code Hollywood musicals to add some romance to your Valentine's Day....

We don’t talk enough about futuristic prison movies

by Simon Brew | Feb 07, 2022 | Feature, News

Fortress, No Escape, Lockout, Escape Plan: the futuristic prison movie is long overdue a lot more love, argues Simon....

Disney's Dinosaur, and how its origins go back to RoboCop

by Brendon Connelly | Feb 07, 2022 | Feature

Disney's Dinosaur cost the studio over $100m to make - but was actually a film that was conceived on the set of RoboCop, and pitched by the team...

Film Quiz Friday: Music By John Williams

by Mark Harrison | Feb 04, 2022 | Feature, News

Ready for a symphony of random movie trivia? This week’s film quiz covers the works of the mighty John Williams....

100 British Movie Podcasts of the Week Later...

by Em McGowan | Feb 04, 2022 | Feature

It's the 100th edition of our movie podcast recommendation of the week podcast - and we've been celebrating....

Hoplegs: an indie game born on Twitch

by Ryan Lambie | Feb 02, 2022 | Feature, Gaming, Previews

Developer Kevin Andersson explains how an idea dreamed up during a livestream formed the basis for his latest opus

Picture of records at a record shop, with a person (only their hand visible) reaching to pick one up.

Keeping Score: the growing popularity of the film soundtrack

by Kevin Haney | Feb 02, 2022 | Feature, News

Kevin Haney on his lifelong love of film scores, and how they’ve gone from the quiet corner of the record shop to something a whole lot more....

The secret stories behind Sesame Street

by Brendon Connelly | Feb 02, 2022 | Feature, News

The story behind Sesame Street coming to life is told in a new documentary, and we've been chatting to some of the people behind it....

Mental Health & Wellbeing Matters: when you're stuck in an unhappy workplace

by Simon Brew | Feb 02, 2022 | Feature

A few words and thoughts for those stuck in a job that's making them miserable, in our regular mental health and wellbeing spot....

Groundhog Play: analysing the stories in time-loop games

by Antony de Fault | Feb 01, 2022 | Feature, Gaming

Why have time-loop games like Deathloop captured devs’ imaginations, and what challenges and opportunities do they present? Antony takes a closer look

Snow White vs the BBFC – the Disney classic that was deemed too scary for under-16s

by Mark Harrison | Feb 01, 2022 | Feature, News

It took 50 years for Disney’s Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs to be granted a U certificate - here’s the story of the film’s unexpected battles with...