Latest news with #Lili
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Violent and lewd! Not Grand Theft Auto, Shakespeare's Macbeth
Last week, the Guardian spoke to the team behind Lili, a video game retelling of Macbeth, shown at the Cannes film festival. The headline quote from the piece was 'Shakespeare would be writing for games today', which I have heard many times, and does make a lot of sense. Shakespeare worked in the Elizabethan theatre, a period in which plays were considered popularist entertainment hardly worthy of analysis or preservation – just like video games today! The authorities were also concerned about the lewd and violent nature of plays and the effect they may have on the impressionable masses – ditto! But if we agree that a 21st-century Shakespeare would be making games, what sort would he be making? If our central thesis is that Shakespeare would be interested in mass, popular entertainment, then – if we're talking pure revenue – he would be making casual smartphone games: Tencent's multiplayer arena battle game Honor of Kings, for example, made $2.6bn (£1.9bn) last year. However, while the Bard was certainly interested in royalty and honour (and making money), it's hard to see Hamlet working as a multiplayer arena-based online battle game structured into an endless series of fast-paced skirmishes. Our titular hero would barely get out the words, 'O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!' before being vaporised in a scorching barrage attack. For similar reasons, I can't see Shakespeare making battle royale games such as Fortnite because, while he certainly liked a battle and lots of deaths, there's not a lot of room for narrative complexity or rousing military rhetoric when the sole aim is to shoot as many people as possible while dressed as a giant banana or Sabrina Carpenter. No, I think if Shakespeare was magically reincarnated in the first quarter of the 21st century, there is only one genre he'd be working in: the open-world role-playing adventure. Here, he'd have the time and space to weave complex narratives involving dozens of characters and diverse environments. King Lear's moors would become a desolate explorable wasteland, much like the post-apocalyptic hellscapes of Fallout or Death Stranding; Macbeth's castle would resemble the haunted dungeons of Elden Ring or The Witcher 3; the Verona of Romeo and Juliet would be a beautiful, troubled take on GTA's Los Santos. Shakespeare's major thematic obsessions – war, revenge, madness and the nature of free will – are all major elements in fantasy RPGs; his ability to weave in all classes, from the lowest peasants to the most vainglorious kings, is reflected in the social strata of the great open-world titles. Shakespeare's histories mixed real-life and fictional characters, as does the Assassin's Creed series, titles that are also interested in the classic Shakespearean concerns of identity, disguise and illusion. More broadly, open-world games have the same sort of freewheeling structure and psychological flexibility as Shakespeare's plays. They have subplots and side quests, they have nonlinear timelines and complicated, morally ambiguous characters; they are expansive and baggy, and wide open to varied interpretation. Vitally, open-world games let the spectator into the narrative as a viewer and an actor; similarly Shakespeare wanted his audiences to be drawn into the action, using asides, quips and monologues to break down the divide between stage and pit. Loud, opinionated and combative, video game players have much more in common with Shakespeare's Elizabethan audiences than polite modern theatregoers. This potential intersection between Shakespeare and open-world games is quietly gaining traction. A few years ago the RSC employed three artists to consider the interplay of live theatre with technology and one of them, the digital artist Adam Clarke, tested ideas for hosting Shakespeare performances within Minecraft. More recently, we saw the brilliant documentary Grand Theft Hamlet about an attempt to stage Hamlet within Grand Theft Auto during the Covid lockdowns. What, after all, is an open-world online video game if not a technological rendering of Shakespeare's fundamental philosophy: all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. It is always intriguing to see highly recognisable video game genres getting clever reinterpretations. Rift Riff by Dutch game designer Adriaan de Jongh and his small team is a tower defence game like, say, Plants vs. Zombies, except here the landscape is much more open and there are little tactical additions, such as being able to lay down the foundations for new towers before you have gathered the required resources to build them, which makes planning fun and creative. Add in the lovely, inviting visuals and sound effects and you have a captivating strategy sim suitable for newcomers and veterans alike. Available on: PC Estimated playtime: 15-plus hours Writer, director and video game fan Alex Garland has been confirmed to helm a forthcoming live action movie adaptation of Elden Ring, produced by A24 and Bandai Namco. If it's going to be authentic, the first two hours of the film will revolve around the lead character being repeatedly slaughtered by the Tree Sentinel knight at the very start of the quest. Pac-Man is now officially 45 years old and the BFI has a piece tracing the evolution of the game from that old story about the pizza to the fact that all the ghosts have different personalities. Ms Pac-Man is a better game, though. Game design luminary Peter Molyneux recently held a Q&A session at the Nordic Game 2025 conference, and gaming news site wrote up his excellent answer to the question, whatever happened to Project Milo? And frankly, if you have to ask what that is, you'll never know. I am poring over Hurt Me Plenty, a lavish coffee table book about the best shooter games of the noughties, published by Bitmap Books. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Half-Life 2 and Unreal Tournament are all analysed here, as well as lesser-known oddities. (Codename: Nina – Global Terrorism Strike Force anyone?) A fascinating overview of this foundational period for modern shooter design. Unreal estate: the 12 greatest homes in video game history Fortnite returns to iPhone app store in US, ending exile imposed by Apple Hello Stranger – interactive thriller puts remote worker in trial-by-internet | ★★☆☆☆ Sign up to Pushing Buttons Keza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gaming after newsletter promotion This one came to us from Andy on email who asked: What's the strangest game you have ever played? Last year I played Harold Halibut on Game Pass, which I think is probably the weirdest game I've ever experienced. I'd love to hear about other strange gaming experiences. I've played a lot of games that are famously weird, such as Seaman (look after a talking fish with the voice of Leonard Nimoy), Mister Mosquito (you're a mosquito) and Katamari Damacy (you're making giant balls of junk for the king of the universe), but I've also played many more obscure weird games, such as Spectrum classic Fat Worm Blows A Sparky (you're a microscopic worm trapped in your own computer), the bizarre Amiga adventure Tass Times in Tonetown (you're trapped in an alternative 1980s punk dimension) and the PlayStation 2 voyeur sim, Polaroid Pete (you're a photographer trying to take snaps of weird things happening in local parks). My favourite is Sega's Emergency Call Ambulance, which is like Crazy Taxi except you're driving an ambulance with a critically ill patient in the back and if you get into too many collisions you have to give them CPR or they die. This was a big arcade release, but somehow never made it to home consoles. I simply cannot understand why. If you've got a question for Question Block – or anything else to say about the newsletter – email us on pushingbuttons@
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Riverdale' Star Lili Reinhart Has Sparked Genuine Concern After She Posted A Worrying TikTok From Her Uber Ride 15 Hours Ago, And Nothing Else Since
Riverdale star Lili Reinhart has sparked genuine concern among her social media followers after she posted a TikTok from her terrifying Uber ride on Monday, and nothing since. The 28-year-old actor shared the worrying video to both her TikTok and her Instagram story 15 hours ago, and hasn't publicly posted anything else. Related: "It Was Not Right": Shailene Woodley Broke Her Silence About The Aaron Rodgers Breakup Lili did not speak in the eight-second clip, but revealed in the caption that she was sitting in the backseat of an Uber. In the video, she zoomed in on both passenger doors to show that they had been covered up with tape, making them inaccessible. She then turned the camera on herself, proving that she was, in fact, inside the car. She wrote on top of the video: 'If you never see me again, show this to the police,' and added in the caption: 'is this gonna be an uber horror story.' And while Lili's followers initially interpreted the TikTok as a lighthearted joke, the mood has shifted after she failed to follow up. The star replied to one fan's comment asking where her sunglasses were from almost immediately after she posted the video, but hasn't said anything else. Related: Sophie Turner Opened Up About Her "Incredibly Sad" Split From Joe Jonas At the time of writing, the video has been seen more than 2.5 million times, and has racked up hundreds of thousands of likes, comments, and bookmarks, with many of the comments referencing how much time has passed since Lilli posted. TikTok @lilireinhart / Via 'Watched this then panicked, then realised it was probs posted a few days ago and felt relieved, then realised it was actually posted minutes ago and now I'm panicking for you,' one reads. 'Girl it's been 5 hours are you good??😭' somebody else asked, while another followed up with: 'Yeah so this is 7 hours ago and people are genuinely probably gonna start calling the police, are you okay?' 'girl it's been HOURS!! are you okay?!' one more concerned viewer asked, while somebody else urged: ' back in. You can't leave on that cliffhanger.' As mentioned, Lili hasn't been active on any of her social media pages since, and BuzzFeed has reached out to her reps for comment. More on this "I Was Also Diagnosed. It F*cking Sucks": Millions Of People Are Applauding Lili Reinhart For Opening Up About Her Newly Diagnosed Chronic IllnessKrista Torres · Jan. 25, 2025 Lili Reinhart Says She "Disassociated" And Developed An Eating Disorder During Season 6 Of "Riverdale"Larry Fitzmaurice · Jan. 27, 2025 Lili Reinhart Revealed She Was Diagnosed With Alopecia In A New TikTokLauren Garafano · Jan. 30, 2024 Also in Celebrity: If You Think You're Smarter Than The Average Celebrity, Prove It By Correctly Answering These Questions They Got Wrong On "Jeopardy" Also in Celebrity: 12 Celebs Who Came Out At A Young Age, And 13 Who Came Out Way Later In Life Also in Celebrity: 17 Celebs Who Said "I Do" So Young, It Kinda Made People Uncomfy, And 14 Who Waited Until Wayyy Later In Life
Buzz Feed
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Lili Reinhart Concerns Fans With Scary Uber TikTok
Riverdale star Lili Reinhart has sparked genuine concern among her social media followers after she posted a TikTok from her terrifying Uber ride on Monday, and nothing since. The 28-year-old actor shared the worrying video to both her TikTok and her Instagram story 15 hours ago, and hasn't publicly posted anything else. Lili did not speak in the eight-second clip, but revealed in the caption that she was sitting in the backseat of an Uber. In the video, she zoomed in on both passenger doors to show that they had been covered up with tape, making them inaccessible. She then turned the camera on herself, proving that she was, in fact, inside the car. She wrote on top of the video: 'If you never see me again, show this to the police,' and added in the caption: 'is this gonna be an uber horror story.'And while Lili's followers initially interpreted the TikTok as a lighthearted joke, the mood has shifted after she failed to follow up. The star replied to one fan's comment asking where her sunglasses were from almost immediately after she posted the video, but hasn't said anything else. As mentioned, Lili hasn't been active on any of her social media pages since, and BuzzFeed has reached out to her reps for comment.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lili Reinhart and Lizzy McAlpine Get Real About Mental Health Struggles
The hard work of destigmatizing mental health struggles like depression, anxiety, and OCD can occasionally fall in the hands of public figures who choose to be upfront about their own experiences. And in 2025, actor Lili Reinhart and musician Lizzy McAlpine are leading that charge. At Hearst Magazines' second annual Women's Health lab in New York City, the artists sat down with Cosmopolitan's editor-in-chief Willa Bennett to explain why they are committed to keeping their fans aware it's not all happy thoughts all the time, even as famous faces. 'I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety when I was 12, so I've been living with this for half my life,' Lili said. 'Although I don't look at this as part of my identity, it's a part of my story. So when I started doing interviews, it felt organic to talk about my experience with my mental health. Not that there weren't other people in the industry talking about their mental health, but I was 19 at the time on this big show, and I think people were surprised I could have the capacity to feel depression. So I was constantly encouraged to keep talking about it.' Lizzy said while she is forthcoming about her struggles, setting up boundaries online has also been a protective measure for maintaining her own mental wellness. 'I used to post a lot more on social media, and I was open with my life. It kind of got to a point where I felt like people felt they had a say in what I was doing, and that was affecting me. So I've really scaled back the amount I share because I need to make sure my mental health stays sane.' Lili adheres to similar boundary-setting practices: 'There's a weird balance between wanting to be open about your mental health but also understanding how badly social media can affect your mental health. I try to be open and honest about when I'm in a rut.' Both Lizzy and Lili detailed how they see their artistic work as a release. Lizzy—who is starring in the Tony-nominated musical Floyd Collins—said the experience is 'healing [her] inner child' and she finds working on her own music to be therapeutic. 'I have to write songs or I'll be depressed all the time. Without music, I don't know where I would be.' As for Lili, she finds acting to be a helpful gateway, offering her a sense of ease in being emotional on set. 'Sometimes a camera in my face gives me permission in a weird way. I know that whatever emotion I'm presenting on film will be captured, and people will maybe be able to see themselves in it. So it's almost permission to let myself feel to the fullest extent.' When Willa asked about the advice they'd offer their younger selves, Lizzy said she'd focus on the strength of sitting with emotions. 'It's okay to feel everything you're feeling. I feel like for a while, and still sometimes, if I'm having a feeling I don't want to have, I'm like, 'Okay, need to push that away.' But if you don't let it move through you then it will never go away completely. I wish someone had told me that.' Lili fully agreed. 'I viewed depression as a dragon that needed to be defeated rather than something I needed to learn to have compassion for. I've always been on a quest to feel better—to try medication and therapy and Reiki and all these different energetic healing works—and it's not for this end goal of 'I need to be this to be happy.' It's sort of like 'how can I manage this and how can I live with this thing that's a part of me and my existence?'' 'If I [went] towards it with compassion and empathy, maybe it would have made my younger self a little bit more accepting when I was 12, 13, and not really understanding why I felt the way I felt.' You Might Also Like Here's What NOT to Wear to a Wedding Meet the Laziest, Easiest Acne Routine You'll Ever Try
Cosmopolitan
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Lili Reinhart and Lizzy McAlpine Get Real About Mental Health
The hard work of destigmatizing mental health struggles like depression, anxiety, and OCD can occasionally fall in the hands of public figures who choose to be upfront about their own experiences. And in 2025, actor Lili Reinhart and musician Lizzy McAlpine are leading that charge. At Hearst Magazines' second annual Women's Health lab in New York City, the artists sat down with Cosmopolitan's editor-in-chief Willa Bennett to explain why they are committed to keeping their fans aware it's not all happy thoughts all the time, even as famous faces. 'I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety when I was 12, so I've been living with this for half my life,' Lili said. 'Although I don't look at this as part of my identity, it's a part of my story. So when I started doing interviews, it felt organic to talk about my experience with my mental health. Not that there weren't other people in the industry talking about their mental health, but I was 19 at the time on this big show, and I think people were surprised I could have the capacity to feel depression. So I was constantly encouraged to keep talking about it.' Lizzy said while she is forthcoming about her struggles, setting up boundaries online has also been a protective measure for maintaining her own mental wellness. 'I used to post a lot more on social media, and I was open with my life. It kind of got to a point where I felt like people felt they had a say in what I was doing, and that was affecting me. So I've really scaled back the amount I share because I need to make sure my mental health stays sane.' Lili adheres to similar boundary-setting practices: 'There's a weird balance between wanting to be open about your mental health but also understanding how badly social media can affect your mental health. I try to be open and honest about when I'm in a rut.' Both Lizzy and Lili detailed how they see their artistic work as a release. Lizzy—who is starring in the Tony-nominated musical Floyd Collins—said the experience is 'healing [her] inner child' and she finds working on her own music to be therapeutic. 'I have to write songs or I'll be depressed all the time. Without music, I don't know where I would be.' As for Lili, she finds acting to be a helpful gateway, offering her a sense of ease in being emotional on set. 'Sometimes a camera in my face gives me permission in a weird way. I know that whatever emotion I'm presenting on film will be captured, and people will maybe be able to see themselves in it. So it's almost permission to let myself feel to the fullest extent.' When Willa asked about the advice they'd offer their younger selves, Lizzy said she'd focus on the strength of sitting with emotions. 'It's okay to feel everything you're feeling. I feel like for a while, and still sometimes, if I'm having a feeling I don't want to have, I'm like, 'Okay, need to push that away.' But if you don't let it move through you then it will never go away completely. I wish someone had told me that.' Lili fully agreed. 'I viewed depression as a dragon that needed to be defeated rather than something I needed to learn to have compassion for. I've always been on a quest to feel better—to try medication and therapy and Reiki and all these different energetic healing works—and it's not for this end goal of 'I need to be this to be happy.' It's sort of like 'how can I manage this and how can I live with this thing that's a part of me and my existence?'' 'If I [went] towards it with compassion and empathy, maybe it would have made my younger self a little bit more accepting when I was 12, 13, and not really understanding why I felt the way I felt.'
