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Will Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story Reignite Love for Movie Musicals?

The musical genre has made a remarkable recovery in the 21st century. Once relegated to one of the “relics” of pop cultures past, and often put in the same neglected box as Westerns and biblical epics, genuine toe-tappers that were both original and based on Broadway shows surged to new popularity in the 2000s and 2010s. This began with the one-two punch of Baz Luhrmann’s decadent Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Rob Marshall’s more traditional Oscar winner Chicago (2002). Yet fans of the revived art-form should be watching how Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is received this December very carefully. Judging…
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Can Salem’s Lot and Firestarter Reignite Stephen King at the Box Office?

It was almost exactly four years ago when It: Chapter One (as it came to be called), the first of two movies based on Stephen King’s classic 1986 novel, opened in theaters to a record-shattering $124 million in its first weekend. Adjusted for inflation, the film went on to become the highest grossing horror movie (and King adaptation) of all time, earning $701 million worldwide. Not even the vampires of ‘Salem’s Lot multiplied at that rate! It’s explosive and unprecedented opening coincided (and perhaps helped drive) a new wave of Stephen King adaptations, both as movies and TV productions, and…
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Why the Xbox Series X Smoking Videos Are a Poor Attempt to Reignite the Overheating Controversy

Just a day after the official launch of the Xbox Series X, one thing seemed to dominate the conversation around Microsoft’s next-gen console: a series of viral videos allegedly depicting a major overheating issue, as thick clouds of smoke were desperately expelled through the console’s top vents. The makers of the videos claimed that the Xbox Series X had grown so hot that the components inside were literally seconds away from catching fire. I’ve spent the last two weeks with the Xbox Series X, testing out everything from its excellent load times and 4K 60fps visuals to its backward compatibility…
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