Blog

  • Jurassic World Rebirth Review: Nearly a New Beginning

    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: Nearly a New Beginning

    Jurassic World Rebirth’s first two views don’t feel particularly like a resurrection at all. A mutated cross dragon, the Distortus rex, vanishes from its pen in the first film, causing havoc on several scientists. In the second, New Yorkers complain about a dying [ …] traffic jam.

    On Den of Geek, the second article Jurassic World Rebirth Review: Virtually a New Beginning appeared.

    Time 3 of the Squid Game has clues in this article.

    All Seong Gi-hun ( Lee Jung-jae ) wanted to do was save lives.

    That is Player 456&#8217, who has been a distinct target since winning the 33rd time of the mythical games in Squid Game and has continued to do so through the 36th time of the games in both winter 2 and season 3. Gi-hun uses his$ 45.6 billion prize money to build a sophisticated surveillance system to track down the enigmatic Recruiter ( Gong Yoo ) and ensnap the contest, despite the fact that he could have easily fled to Los Angeles. Gi-hun does everything he can to persuade his rivals that he&#8217, s&#8220, &#8221, and &#8220, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, and that they must talk to him to protect their personal skins.

    cnx. powershell. push ( function ( ) {cnx ( {playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″, }). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ), }),

    Of course, people are … however, people are complex and none of Gi-hun&#8217 ;s fellow individuals heed his warning. As the prize pot for kitten banks grows, the number of life that can be saved decreases year after year. Gi-hun is aware of his need to alter his strategy by the time the Squid Game competition react with murderous rage when a precise baby is introduced as Player 222. He was not going to be able to keep anyone, perhaps not even the majority of them. He can now only help someone to protect themselves. In order to save the most vulnerable spirit, he does exactly that, making it to the very next game of the game once more and giving himself up.

    And that’s why Squid Game has a joyful end, too! Okay, that &#8217, s certainly not really true. Squid Game is one of the most jaded and profoundly gloomy pieces of favorite mass media ever produced, as we already mentioned in our time three review. No history had ever come close to ending happily and boasting a 99.8 % conscience rate. &#8221, However, that does n&#8217, t mean it can&#8217, t close with at least some sort of defeat or desire.

    Seong Gi-hun won the 36th Squid Game opposition regardless of whether the sniveling VIPs who watch these dangerous activities realize it or not. Sure, his title won’t appear in the winner’s ledger, his next of kin won’t, and he won’t, of course, get any extra prize money, but he did, in spite of it, won them all. That&#8217 is because he made a compromise, which is one thing that the sport is especially designed to prevent.

    Players in Squid Game are repeatedly given the option to make the noble selection between offering mercy to a wounded opponent and voting to end the game altogether, and they always take it back. This is not due to their bad behavior. It&#8217, s because they &#8217, re just people. The same things that initially made them eager enough to play the games continue to haunt them throughout and propel them along. The game’s creators, who are currently Front Man Hwang In-ho ( Lee Byung-hun ), are aware of this dynamic and have created games to make use of it. A wealthy VIP cannot abuse some weak creature, but it &#8217 is insufficient. They may accomplish that in the comfort of their own palace. They find it really satisfying to put on a lavish, expensive production where people are pressured to torture themselves.

    But, Gi-hun’s sacrifice cuts that kayfabe. He chooses not to. He does n&#8217, t play the game. And for that, he &#8220, wins &#8221, even as he dies. The Top Man, who like Player 456 has even &#8220, PLAYED THESE GAMES, is able to comprehend the impact of Gi-hun’s decision in a way that other watching Guests don’t. As the Coast Guard arrives and sets off an evacuation plan, Hwang In-ho goes through the movements, a defeated male. When his brother, Hwang Jun-ho ( Wi Ha-joon ), appears and fires a rifle at him, he hardly even responds. Instead he silently exits the island, &#8220, winner &#8221, 222 in tow, and heads off to safety.

    Later, he commits the extraordinary crime of stealing what is left over from his$ 45.6 billion fortune to give his surviving family in Los Angeles by breaking into Seong Gi-hun&#8217’s motel hideout. This is almost certainly not Squid Games ‘ standard operating system. The Front Man’s responsibilities don’t, after all, include locating the next of kin for every former winner and delivering them in a specialized Squid Game-branded box upon their passing. This resembles a freelance operation very much, and it &#8217 is an acknowledgement that something has changed here.

    Seong Gi-hun not only won the 36th edition of Squid Game, but he also cast doubt into the system that might one day bring about the games ‘&#8217, ultimate demise. After all, there are now more than one person ( Jun-ho ), who is aware of the games ‘ existence and is actively involved in their destruction ( Park Gyu-young, Pink Guard 011, No-Eul, Jun Suk-ho, Woo-seok, Lee Jin-uk, Player 246 Gyeong-seok, and presumably Player 222 herself ). That may not be enough to signal the end of the games, but it might also signal the start of the end.

    However, the only thing left to ask is whether Netflix will ever permit that end. Thank goodness, the streamer has been accommodating and patient in allowing Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk to refer to season 3 as the story’s conclusion. since it is for him. Hwang has stated that season 3 represents the conclusion of this saga even as a look at Netflix&#8217, s earnings results reveals there is no way that that can be the case. GIVE or take a prequel or two years down the line. The inclusion of a particular Hollywood megastar in the season 3&#8217, final scene makes that even more abundant.

    Squid Games. Cate Blanchett in episode 306 of Squid Game. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

    The writer/director telling The Hollywood Reporter:” Cate Blanchett’s inclusion as a new recruiter in the final moments of season 3 appears to have been a Hwang-led choice rather than a Netflix one.”

    I didn’t end it on that note in order to purposefully leave room for more stories to unfold. The Games in Korea are over, thanks to Gi-hun and Front Man. And because this story began with my desire to address issues involving the system that was created in late capitalism and the limitless competition, I wanted to leave it on a note highlighting the fact that these systems, even if one is destroyed, it’s not simple to tear down the entire system — it will always repeat itself. That’s why I wanted to end it with an American recruiter. And I wrote that scene in order to create a powerful conclusion for the show, not to make room for anything else. &#8221,

    The presence of a recruiter in Los Angeles, who is allegedly recruiting for an American Squid Game, doesn’t immediately discredit Gi-hun’s victory. It’s not simple to dismantle the entire system, as Hwang himself asserts. &#8221, Gi-hun&#8217, s sacrifice won&#8217, t immediately bring the games to a halt. However, it’s likely that it will serve as the catalyst for a larger political awakening that will eventually end that system. The torch will be carried over to continue the mission if a Cate Blanchett player participates in the Cate Blanchett games. Or perhaps they won&#8217, t. What matters in the Squid Game&#8216 ,s ending is that the games &#8217, demise is a real possibility for the viewer to dream upon.

    The viewer’s imagination will, of course, never have access to the rest of the story. As the sun will rise tomorrow, there will certainly be more squid game. There will be an American Squid Game, which will undoubtedly be followed by titles like Squid Game: London, Squid Game: Paris, Squid Game: Tokyo, and gods knows what else.

    Squid Game going global coincides nicely with the series ‘ #8217 themes. After all, Seoul is the only place where modern capitalism’s detractors can find themselves. Seong Gi-hun’s sacrifice, however, will get more and more diluted as new iterations of Squid Game debut without a foretold conclusion in sight. Perhaps a global phenomenon on a streaming service would always suffer in that way. However, the ending of the show and Gi-hun’s sacrifice are still important for now. Make every effort to remember it as much as we can.

    Squid Game season 3’s final six episodes are now streaming on Netflix.

    For the first time, on Den of Geek, the post Squid Game Season 3 Has a Perfect Ending &#8230, For Now.

  • Squid Game Season 3 Has a Perfect Ending…For Now

    Squid Game Season 3 Has a Perfect Ending…For Now

    This essay contains year 3 Squid Game trailers. All Seong Gi-hun ( Lee Jung-jae ) wanted to do was save lives. [Squid Game season 1] Player 456 has been his singular focus since the 33rd edition of the titular games in Squid Game season 1 and has continued to do so through the 36th edition of the games in season 2]… [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …] [ …][

    The first post Squid Game Season 3 Has a Perfect Ending …For Now appeared first on Den of Geek.

    This post contains year 3 Squid Game clues.

    All Seong Gi-hun ( Lee Jung-jae ) wanted to do was save lives.

    From the moment he wins the 33rd time of the mythical games in Fish Game, Player 456&#8217 is his singular target, which lasts through the 36th time of the games in both winter 2 and period 3. Gi-hun uses his$ 45.6 billion prize money to build a sophisticated surveillance system to track down the enigmatic Recruiter ( Gong Yoo ) and ensnap the contest, despite the fact that he could have easily fled to Los Angeles. Gi-hun does everything he can to persuade his rivals that he&#8217, s&#8220, &#8221, and &#8220, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, &#8221, and that they really need to talk to him to protect their own coats.

    cnx. command. push ( function ( ) {cnx ( {playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″, }). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ), }),

    Of course, people are … however, people are complex, and none of Gi-hun’s other humans heed his advice. As the dish of piggy bank prize money grows, the share of life to be saved diminishes from round to round. Gi-hun is aware of his need to alter his strategy by the time the Squid Game competitors react with murderous rage when a precise baby is introduced as Player 222. He was not, and perhaps never perhaps the majority of them, going to be able to conserve anyone. He can now only help people to protect themselves. In order to save the most vulnerable spirit, he does exactly that, making it to the very next game of the game once more and giving himself up.

    And that’s why Squid Game has a content end, too! Sure, that &#8217, s certainly not really true. Squid Game is one of the most intensely black and jaded bits of favorite mass media ever produced, as we mentioned in our time 3 assessment. No tale that boasts a 99.8 % morality rate had ever come to an end happily. &#8221, However, that does n&#8217, t mean it can&#8217, t close with at least some sort of defeat or desire.

    Seong Gi-hun won the 36th Squid Game opposition regardless of whether the sniveling VIPs who watch these dangerous activities realize it or not. Yes, his name won, but he won’t go down in the record of winners, and his next of kin won’t receive any more prize money ( of course, in addition to his 2021 handbag ), but he still won. That&#8217 is because he made a compromise, which is one thing that the sport is especially designed to prevent.

    Players in Squid Game are repeatedly given the option to make the noble selection between offering mercy to a wounded opponent and voting to end the game altogether, and they always take it back. This is not because they are undesirable. It&#8217, s because they &#8217, re just individuals. The same things continue to haunt them throughout and render them hungry enough to continue playing the games. The game’s creators, who are currently Front Man Hwang In-ho ( Lee Byung-hun ), are aware of this dynamic and develop the games to exploit it. It&#8217 ;s not enough for a wealthy VIP to torture some poor wretch. In their own castle, they were able to do that. What is truly exciting for them is to put on a lavish, expensive production where people are pressured to torture themselves.

    But, Gi-hun’s sacrifice cuts that kayfabe. He chooses not to. He does n&#8217, t play the game. And for that, he &#8220, wins &#8221, even as he dies. The Top Man, who like Player 456 has even &#8220, PLAYED THESE GAMES, is able to comprehend the impact of Gi-hun’s decision in a way that other watching Guests don’t. As the Coast Guard arrives and sets off an evacuation plan, Hwang In-ho goes through the movements, a defeated male. When his brother Hwang Jun-ho ( Wi Ha-joon ) appears and fires a rifle on him, he hardly even responds. Instead he silently exits the island, &#8220, winner &#8221, 222 in tow, and heads off to safety.

    Later, he commits the extraordinary crime of stealing what is left over from his$ 45.6 billion fortune to give his surviving family in Los Angeles by breaking into Seong Gi-hun&#8217’s motel hideout. This is almost certainly not Squid Games ‘ standard operating system. The Front Man’s responsibilities don’t, after all, include locating the next of kin for each former winner and delivering them in a specialized Squid Game-branded box upon their passing. This resembles a freelance operation very much, and it’s an indication that something has changed.

    Seong Gi-hun won the 36th Squid Game edition, but he also cast doubt into the system that might one day bring about the games ‘&#8217, ultimate demise. After all, there are now more than one person ( Jun-ho ), who is aware of the games ‘ existence and is actively involved in their destruction ( Park Gyu-young, Pink Guard 011, No-Eul, Jun Suk-ho, Woo-seok, Lee Jin-uk, Player 246 Gyeong-seok, and presumably Player 222 herself ). That may not be enough to signal the end of the games, but it might also signal the start of the end of them.

    However, the only thing left to ask is whether Netflix will ever permit that end. The streamer has, thanks to Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, been accommodating and patient in allowing season 3 to refer to it as the story’s conclusion. since he deserves it. There is no way that this can be the case, despite the fact that Netflix‘s earnings results reveal that season 3 represents the conclusion of this saga, even though it could be given as a prequel or two years from now. The inclusion of a particular Hollywood megastar in the season 3&#8217, final scene makes that even more abundant.

    Squid Games. Cate Blanchett in episode 306 of Squid Game. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

    The writer/director telling The Hollywood Reporter:” Cate Blanchett’s inclusion as a new recruiter in the final moments of season 3 appears to have been a Hwang-led choice rather than a Netflix one.”

    In order to purposefully leave room for more stories to unfold, I didn’t end it that way. The Games in Korea are over, thanks to Gi-hun and Front Man. And because I wanted to address issues involving the system that was created in late capitalism and the endless competition, I wanted to leave it on a note that, even if one were to collapse, it would be difficult to completely rebuild the entire system. I wanted to end it with an American recruiter because of this. And I wrote that scene in order to create a powerful conclusion for the show, not to make room for anything else. &#8221,

    Gi-hun’s victory is immediately disapproved by the presence of a recruiter in Los Angeles who is allegedly recruiting for an American Squid Game. It&#8217, as Hwang himself asserts, is not simple to dismantle the entire system. &#8221, Gi-hun&#8217, s sacrifice won&#8217, t immediately bring the games to a halt. However, it’s likely to be the catalyst for a larger political awakening that will eventually end the system. The torch will be carried over to continue the mission if a Cate Blanchett player participates in the Cate Blanchett games. Or perhaps they won&#8217, t. What matters in the Squid Game&#8216 ,s ending is that the games &#8217, demise is a real possibility for the viewer to dream upon.

    The viewer’s imagination will, of course, never be able to imagine the rest of the story. As the sun will rise tomorrow, there will definitely be more squid game waiting. There will be an American Squid Game, which will undoubtedly be followed by titles like Squid Game: London, Squid Game: Paris, Squid Game: Tokyo, and gods knows what else.

    Squid Game going global coincides nicely with the series ‘ #8217 themes. After all, it’s not like the flaws of contemporary capitalism are only present in Seoul. Seong Gi-hun’s sacrifice, however, will get less and less meaningful as new Squid Game iterations come along without a clear resolution. Perhaps that was always the case with a global phenomenon streaming on a streaming service. However, the ending of the show and Gi-hun’s sacrifice, respectively, are important for the time being. Let’s make an effort to remember it as much as we can.

    Squid Game season 3’s six episodes are now streamable on Netflix.

    For the first time on Den of Geek, the post Squid Game Season 3 Has a Perfect Ending &#8230, For Now.

  • Hideo Kojima Games Ranked from Great to Masterpiece

    Hideo Kojima Games Ranked from Great to Masterpiece

    There are still a several authors whose perception and creativity are undeniable despite the fact that making video games is very much a team effort. These are executives who are home titles almost on par with video traditions like Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro. And there is apparently no bigger title in the video game industry than […]…]…

    The article Hideo Kojima Games Ranked from Great to Masterpiece appeared second on Den of Geek.

    There are still a several authors whose perception and creativity are undeniable despite the fact that making video games is very much a team effort. These are executives who are home titles almost on par with video traditions like Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro. There is perhaps no other title better known than Hideo Kojima in the world of video games.

    While generally known for his work on the Metal Gear Solid line, Kojima has led creation of more than a few titles during his famous job, receiving universal admiration for his work. We figured it was time to review these names now that his most recent activity, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, is set to be released. These are the activities directed by Hideo Kojima ranked from worst to best.

    cnx. command. cnx ( playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530 ), ) -push ( function ( ). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ), }),

    Honorable Mention: Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand ( 2003 )

    Boktai wasn’t really directed by Kojima, so it doesn’t really qualify for this list, but Kojima did style it and work as maker, and his prints can clearly be seen all over it. Boktai‘s main attraction is the light detector on the Game Boy Advance cylinder, which is essentially a cunning action gameplay ( like most of his headings ). You need to really go outside during the day to command the thermal weapons in the game used to destroy the dead, which makes it much easier to perform.

    Yes, it’s quirky but also really enjoyable, and given the state of smartphone games right now, we’ll possibly never see another match quite like it. Even if consoles may take away the need for the light device, it’s still for tracking down a GBA and an original bullet to practice this one as it’s meant to be played.

    12. Metal Gear ( 1987 )

    Kojima’s debut film is by no means terrible; it’s just a little written, which isn’t surprising given that it was released in 1987. And hey, everything has to go at the base of this list. Nonetheless, the stealth gameplay is simple to pick up, and the graphics and music are also good. This is, after all, the basis that very little all cunning matches are also built around.

    It’s just that it’s frequently easy to get stuck. Some facts about what to do next are nearly impossible to figure out without looking them up. It’s also a very small game if you do use a manual. However, the sport is now easily available in the just released Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection, so it’s worth checking it out there.

    11. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake ( 1990 )

    Metal Gear 2: Good Snake is incredibly advanced compared to its predecessor, despite being available on the weak MSX2. This is what makes it truly impressive. Opponents can then place you more easily and follow you between screens and there are a lot of options to escape and divert them as well. &nbsp,

    Then there’s the story, exploring the nature of warfare which is a common theme for Kojima games, is surprisingly mature for its time. Metal Gear 2 is undoubtedly one of the best games of the era despite the restrictions of being made for an eight-bit computer in 1990. It felt years ahead of its time.

    10. Policenauts ( 1994) )

    More than 30 years after its initial release, Policenauts remains Kojima’s only game never officially released in the West. That, however, has nothing to do with its quality. In fact, it features some of the best writing of any of the games he’s directed. The game is a hard science fiction tale about a police officer who has spent more than 20 years in cryosleep. It can be best described as a visual novel or interactive movie.

    It’s kind of like Blade Runner but with a lot of Lethal Weapon sprinkled in for good measure. Sega Saturn was released in North America in 1996, but it seems that the programmers ‘ way of programming made the translation from Japanese to English too expensive and challenging. While there’s certainly still some interest in seeing the title here, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen any time soon.

    9. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots ( 2008 )

    It becomes a little challenging to assign any sort of ranking to any Metal Gear Solid game that Kojima has directed has been hailed as a masterpiece. Still, Metal Gear Solid 4 is just a bit below the other titles in the series. The PlayStation 3 is still an incredible showcase of what that console was capable of, with stunning graphics that still hold up well today.

    The problem is that Guns of the Patriots is a little too self-indulgent. As a result of Koima’s desire for Solid Snake’s story to be the most epic of its conclusions, knottling every kink in the complicated plot. There are some very unnecessarily long cutscenes here to the point that they get in the way of the game’s pacing. It’s still a fantastic conclusion. It could just use a little trimming. &nbsp,

    8. Sons of Liberty in Metal Gear Solid 2 ( 2001 )

    Metal Gear Solid 2 is still somewhat divisive among fans. Many people wanted a next-gen version of Metal Gear Solid, which had become the first PlayStation, when it was released. And that’s exactly what they got at the start of the game. Then the notorious protagonist switch occurs. It turns out that Solid Snake isn’t actually the star of the game. Instead, it’s Raiden, a character who was completely new at the time.

    But once you accept Sons of Liberty for what it is, and not what you might have wanted it to be, it’s one of the most prescient games ever made. It was published in 2001, years before social media became a part of our lives, and it forecast the rise of echo chambers, how they could be used to influence public opinion, and even warned of the dangers of AI. Even in 2025, there are few games that feel as relevant.

    7. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain/Metal Gear: Ground Zeroes ( 2014 )

    Yes, we’re going to lump Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain together because the gameplay is largely the same and it’s really more of a prologue than a completely separate entity. Luckily, the gameplay really is the star here. The titles” The Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes” seem to have taken the series ‘ long-standing concepts further. There are numerous ways to tackle each mission, and somehow, the enemy AI always seems to adapt to your choices. These are the most unfinished Metal Gear games to date.

    But what’s really incredible about The Phantom Pain in particular is just how good it is given that it appears to have been rushed through the final phases of development due to the crumbling relationship between Kojima and publisher Konami. If the game had been more in line with Kojima’s vision, it might even be a little higher up on this list. &nbsp,

    6. Snatcher ( 1988 )

    Snatcher, a different visual novel, was Kojima’s first true exploration of the close relationship between video games and cinema. The tale of robot” Snatchers” that kill and replace humans was remarkably mature for the era, and didn’t even change much for the Sega CD release in North America, which was a common practice at the time.

    Yes, playing a game that is primarily a text-based affair can get a little tiresome, but the writing is so strong and the cyberpunk atmosphere is so moody that it’s simple to get hooked on this one. It’s just a shame that it’s not more readily available on modern platforms, especially with a completed English language translation.

    5. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker ( 2010 )

    To be completely honest, the PSP was home to a lot of mediocre spinoffs of well-known franchises. And initially Kojima planned to step back as director from Peace Walker. We’re glad he stayed on, though, because the end product is a fascinating amalgam of concepts from the later Metal Gear Solid titles and a design that makes full use of the advantages of a portable.

    Gameplay is somewhere between the fourth and fifth MGS games, focusing on shorter missions, but with the addition of co-op for most of them. Yes, it gets a little stale by the end, but at least it’s playable in smaller chunks. And it’s really worth checking out to better understand Big Boss and his motivations in the entire saga. &nbsp,

    4. P. T. ( 2014 )

    I can think of exactly one time that a demo that was only officially available for a few months has been called one of the greatest and most influential games of all time, but P. T. is just that amazing. P. T. ( short for” Playable Teaser” ) is intended to constantly disorient the player by playing with perspective and the nature of time. It is remarkably simple in its gameplay too, only allowing for walking and zooming in on the scenery. You never quite know what the game will throw at you next, so it’s consistently terrifying and unsettling.

    All of this was meant to get people excited for a Kojima-directed Silent Hill game starring Norman Reedus as the protagonist. Unfortunately, Kojima and publisher Konami broke up a few months after P. T. was made available exclusively for the PSN. The game was canceled, and you can’t even redownload P. T. if you didn’t snag it for the few months it was available in 2014 and 2015. However, from the ashes of P. T., we came to a better Kojima game starring Norman Reedus…

    3. 2019 Death Stranding

    Death Stranding is admittedly not a game for everyone. It certainly has some stealth elements, but it’s not entirely a stealth game like other Kojima titles. There’s multiplayer, but it’s also unlike his past work. There is a lot of walking involved, but it’s not really fair to refer to it as a walking simulator. The best description is that this is a wholly unique action-adventure game with invisible enemies, the need to balance the packages, and the all important “bridge baby” along for the ride.

    Even if you pay close attention, the narrative can be incomprehensible at times, but there are unmistakable themes. It especially hit home after the COVID pandemic began just a few months following the game’s release. Death Stranding might not appeal to you, but if it does, it’s one of Kojima’s best and most compelling games to date.

    2. Metal Gear Solid ( 2000 )

    You can actually divide the video game industry into everything that came before and after Metal Gear Solid. Video games generally struggled in the presentation department before Kojima’s PlayStation 1 masterpiece. You’d get told where to go, maybe a little cutscene would play (usually with poor voice acting ), and you’d be on your way. However, Metal Gear Solid was one of the first titles to truly invest in voice acting and direction, demonstrating that games can be just as cinematic as the best Hollywood movies.

    There’s a real sense of urgency to Snake’s mission, and some pitch perfect pacing. This is Kojima at his best when he tells stories. And then there was the gameplay. Although much of it was modified from the first 2D Metal Gear games, such as switching controller ports or need to look up a Codec frequency on the back of the game’s case, demonstrated a level of ingenuity and understanding of the medium that is still far beyond the capabilities of most developers today.

    1. Snake Eater in Metal Gear Solid 3 ( 2003 )

    Most Kojima games explore near future settings and question the trajectory of technological advancement. Yet his very best game is set during the Cold War of the 1960s, removing the sci-fi trappings for a compelling tale about loyalty, sacrifice, and the nature of patriotism. In Snake Eater, you play as Big Boss back when he was known as” Naked Snake”, and indeed this is Metal Gear Solid stripped down to its bare essentials. You’re crawling through the jungle, camouflageling yourself, and hunting wildlife to stay alive instead of relying on high-tech devices. It’s a raw and memorable experience, and the best possible prequel to the entire Metal Gear Solid. Kojima may one day surpasses this epic, but even after 20 years, it still holds his best game.

    The article Hideo Kojima Games Ranked from Great to Masterpiece appeared second on Den of Geek.

  • Squid Game Season 3 Review: … Have Violent Ends

    Squid Game Season 3 Review: … Have Violent Ends

    Season 3 of the Squid Game is not the subject of this overview. Squid Game is one of the most startlingly cynical pieces of large common press ever produced. The Netflix life theatre, when it’s at its best ( which is typically the case ), has the voice of Hwang Dong-hyuk, who yells,” And another thing that fucks sucks”! into a bullhorn over ]…]

    On Den of Geek, the initial evaluation of Squid Game Season 3:… Have Violent Stops appeared.

    The 2025 Tribeca Festival might have been the busiest and most authority packed it has been in the past 10 years. The Tribeca Festival has been a potent melting pot of drama, music, activities, and video games as it got closer to its quarter-decade of life. While the 2025 version had all these avenues of pleasure available for the viewing government, its video offerings were jam-packed with great premieres and top level skill.

    cnx. command. cnx ( playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530 ), ): function ( ). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ), }),

    Some of our favorite actors and skill met us in our Manhattan workshop to talk about their films, shows, and public favorite things about the market. Den of Geek was fortunate to have them. You can find videos and movies of all these great discussions on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or wherever you find your favorite internet videos of the day. However, we’re also pleased to share with you some of our friends ‘ stopovers at the Den of Geek Studio’s selection of shows below. &nbsp,

    Much Live the Express

    Customers: Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver, David Wain, Todd Holoubek, Ken Marino, Michael Patrick Jann, Michael Ian Black, and producer Matthew Perniciaro

    Members of The State‘s funny band are perhaps more well-known these days for tasks like Reno 911!, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Moist Hot American Summer, and many, many, many other adored funny names. But they all got their start creating and starring in the MTV mid-’90s sketch comedy show, The State.

    This writer is certainly familiar with those things, and the same holds true for Matt Perniciaro, the director of the new documentary series about the show. ” Everyone knows members of this group, but they don’t necessarily know where it all started”, he says. Their style of comedy also developed from a point where the majority of comedy clubs don’t jump-start their careers. David Wain explains,” We came up as a sketch group made up of film students at NYU. It wasn’t an improv group. We were as much about making film shorts, as we were about creating sketches”.

    Although their style is now well-known and almost universal, it wasn’t when they first started out. It was almost as if they were the punk rock kids of comedy. We believed we were very cool. We started out of the gate with this anti-establishment mentality”, Kerri Kenny-Silver says. ” I believe it’s probably from high school, feeling like you don’t necessarily fit in here, and then you find this band of weirdos.” Fellow cast member Todd Holoubeck follows up,” Nobody asked for The Sex Pistols but they got The Sex Pistols. They received The State, but no one ever asked for it.

    Whether you’re a massive fan of The State or just someone who recognizes some of the most well known faces in comedy, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not checking out Long Live The State once you can.

    Rosemead

    Guests: Eric Lin and Lucy Liu

    Modern day perceptions of mental health care are much kinder and more open-minded than they once were. Still, the general public is plagued by too many stigmas. Based on real events, this directorial debut of cinematographer Eric Lin focuses on the lives of Irene ( Lucy Liu ), and her son Joe ( Lawrence Shou ), a diagnosed schizophrenic who battles with his condition since the passing of his father. Irene fights to take care of Joe as his mental state spirals out of control while hiding her own terminal cancer diagnosis from many, including Joe. &nbsp,

    Although Rosemead has universal themes, Lucy Liu claims that the movie addresses some of the stigmas that still affect the Chinese community. ” It is a stigma that is very current&#8230, a lot of times people say there is just a lot of pressure and stress from school, it’s going to be fine. Simply push through it, Liu advises. ” And I think that is what this movie is trying to bring to light. The notion that it’s something we sweep under the rug and find embarrassing, and that we try to make a face that’s different from reality.

    Portraying schizophrenia in a realistic way was also on the forefront of everyone’s minds when making this film. We conducted a lot of research on people’s experiences with schizophrenia, director Eric Lin said, and I think one of the things about YouTube is that many people take their psychotic episodes and post them online to help others through it.

    Rosemead is prepped to both impress audiences with its realistic depictions of life and its overarching themes of both the light and the dark.

    Seasoned

    Guest list: Ewen Wright, Kathryn Wright, Gideon Grody-Patankin, and Mandy Patinkin.

    It would be safe to say that Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody are two actors you never thought would become social media stars. However, Mandy and Kathry n’s social media profile became a thing of beauty and now has resulted in Seasoned, a new TV show that had its pilot play at the 2025 Tribeca Festival thanks to their son Gideon Grody-Patinkin ( and Covid in a strange” Thanks, Covid” moment ).

    Seasoned is not merely the Mandy and Kathryn TikTok show put into a half-hour format. And thankfully, it wasn’t what many people pitched the family to first. ” We were getting approached a lot for reality television shows and we had no interest in that”, explains Gideon Grody-Patankin. Although this is a scripted show and not a reality, director Ewen Wright describes it as being very much Mandy and Kathryn. ” The script is in their bones, but they’re dancing on top of it with the way they’d like to say something or add a line there”, he says. &nbsp,

    Adding on to what is already there seems to be part of Mandy Patinkin’s work ethic, too. While there is always pressure to get things in on time, he likes to say that his goal is to get as many options into the air as possible.” My attitude is give them every chance I can before we leave that angle,” he says. The clock is ticking, the sand’s running through the hourglass, we&#8217, ve got to move on”.

    Once Seasoned hits that airwaves, even though it is not exactly in the same realm, it will make a perfect replacement for those who want more Curb Your Enthusiasm. &nbsp,

    Paradise Records

    Guests: Logic and T Man the Wizard

    Paradise Records is not a biopic, but it is in many ways based on the life of its writer, director, producer, and star Logic. Some may wonder why, on his first film ever, Logic would put the weight of all those jobs on his shoulders. The performer has always known what he can do because he’s faced obstacles in the past and has been told” NO” a lot. ” And I get it. I’m like, “hey man, I rap, but I got this idea for a movie and I wrote the script, I wanted to direct it, I wanted to be a star in it, and I wanted full creative control.” You’d be like,’ fuck you”.

    And Logic won’t just do this once, either. Movies are just as important to him as music. He also said,” As long as I’m blessed to keep making movies, I’m going to keep taking people that you might not normally see or may have never seen in a film and shining light on them.” He also said he will continue to give roles to people you might not expect to see cross over into acting.

    One of those people is his best friend, Tramayne Hudson, a. k. a T Man the Wizard. T Man knew he had a special talent none of these other actors had,” I had a cheat code because Bob is my best friend,” despite Sir Robert Benson Hall II, who he gave his name to on Paradise Records. So he could talk to me a little differently than he could talk to everybody else on the set”.

    Fior Di Latte 

    Guests: Tim Heidecker, Marta Pozzan, and Charlotte Ercoli

    Very strong sense memory is possible. We’ve all had those moments where a single scent ( good or bad ) unlocks a memory or state of being. However, in the new comedy written and directed by Charlotte Ercoli, Fior Di Latte, a single scent has taken over his life for Max ( Tim Heidecker ).

    ” If you point to any corner of this movie it’s either something that I’ve experienced or something that I’m interested in”, Ercoli says. Even though the lives of the movie’s characters may be a little remote, they still evoke memories of themselves. Lead Marta Pozzan puts it best by saying,” I actually feel like Francesca’s a younger version of me. It was lovely to play her, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever be that girl again.

    For as important as it is to have people like Marta and Tim carry your film, it also is a great honor to have the great Kevin Kline take part in the process as well, a joy that isn’t lost on sometime likeTim Heidecker,” Kevin Kline was one of my heroes growing up, one of the greats. It was a dream come true to work with him.”

    The Sixth Borough

    Guests: Andrew Theodorakis, Julian Petty, and Jason Pollard

    Fact: Hip-Hop was born in the South Bronx. It would be difficult to find anyone who would disagree, and if they do, they are completely incorrect. And while the art form grew and evolved in other areas of the world, there is one spot of the globe that doesn’t get credit for birthing some of the most important artists, Long Island. &nbsp,

    Producer Julian Petty puts the blight of Long Island’s recognition pretty succinctly,” One of the most famous songs,’ The Bridge is Over,’ is KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions talking about the Bronx, and this is where Hip-Hop originated and they were dissing MC Shan in Queens. So that is how you define who you are from and what your place of significance is in hip-hop. And, Long Island just got ignored and left behind”.

    The Sixth Borough documents the history of some of the most significant rap acts that were established in Long Island through the vision of director Jason Pollard. So many people will know the names Public Enemy, De La Soul, EPMD, Eric B. and Rakim. However, too many people fail to realize that all of the people in different Long Island towns were raised and established their careers in their own neighborhoods. As Jason puts it,” Rakim is the godfather of lyrical dexterity…without Rakim you don’t have the artists that you have now, expanding the art form the way they are. Therefore, he deserves every prop we can give.

    Oh, Hi!

    Molly Gordon, Logan Lerman, and Sophie Brooks as guests

    Relationships can be hard. That shouldn’t be a shocking statement to anyone. Yet, we still live in a world where playing weird relationship games/being woefully non-committal is a thing. And when Isaac ( Logan Lerman ) makes the most of his relationship with Iris ( Molly Gordon ) while he is in a very compromising position, things don’t go according to plan.

    From a script co-written between Gordon and director Sophie Brooks, Oh, Hi! takes a holistic view of relationships. While the situations are heightened, everything starts from a real place for its creators,” The true jumping off point for this was that Sophie and I had relationships in our 20s that ended and we weren’t able to have a conversation that we wanted to have with them”, explains Gordon. Sophie Brooks further expands that by describing how that develops into what we see on screen,” There was undoubtedly an element of wish fulfillment: In our darkest moments what would we do to try to keep someone’s attention”?

    It also may be hard to find the right tone for telling a story like this. Do you prefer the outrageous comedy? Or do we make this a horror film? Sometimes these decisions are made as part of the filming and editing process, rather than just the script. As Logan Lerman puts it,” There’s so many movies you could make out of the stuff we shot. essentially went in a lot of directions with it.

    No matter what you personally take away from Oh, Hi! No character in this one holds back, so you’re in for a treat. Just take Molly’s word for it,” It was so fun to get to play a character that would say some of the things that I would actually say because I have a very dirty, wild humor”.

    Man discovers tape

    Guests: Peter Hall and Paul Gandersman

    Man discovers tape isn’t necessarily a found footage film but rather a faux documentary about a man who notices some very strange things around his town, all compounded by a mysterious tape he finds in his basement. 

    Although it is essentially a mockumentary, the majority of people would think of it as a comedy when you use the term. Co-director Peter Hall explains how he and Paul found their footing for this film’s presentation,” The way we wrote this movie was we wrote essentially the events that happen. Then we had to reframe it so that it appeared to be documentary makers who had discovered the footage. How would they go about making a documentary about it? This version of it would be based on the footage.

    The film also has some very familiar names attached to it as producers such as C. Robert and Jessica Cargill as well as Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead. ” Justin and Aaron immediately flie from Daredevil: Born Again” to the set. It was crazy that they left Daredevil, came straight to us and they were doing things like carrying gear and ripping gaffer tape up” .&nbsp,

    However, Justin and Aaron did make suggestions; they weren’t there just to tear down a set, according to Peter,” They really wanted us to lean into the weirdness of the film, to keep things enigmatic,” they continued. Anytime we thought we had to over explain or pander to the audience, they were like,’ no guys.’” Paul then elaborates on how crucial it is to have excellent collaborators, saying,” It was incredible working with producers who just told you to make it weirder and answer less.”

    When Man discovers tape finds its way onto your screens, you’ll have to tell Peter and Paul if they answered too much, or they followed Benson and Moorhead’s advice to a T.

    The first post on Den of Geek was Tribeca Festival 2025 Round-Up: Everything We Saw.

  • Squid Game Season 3: The Final Three Games Revealed

    Squid Game Season 3: The Final Three Games Revealed

    No significant trailers about the games that were introduced in SQUID GAME period 3 are contained in this article. Squid Game year 3 is special among the international phenomenon’s three times. This batch of six episodes is not only the line ‘ final episode, as Netflix claims, but it also includes the first year.

    The article Squid Game Season 3: The Final Three Games Revealed appeared primary on Den of Geek.

    The 2025 Tribeca Festival might have been the busiest and most popular event in the last ten times. As it inched closer to its third generation of life, the Tribeca Festival has been a productive melting dish of drama, music, sports, and video games. Although the audience could watch the 2025 model of movies in all of these ways, the film lineup was jam-packed with huge hits and top-notch talent.

    cnx. command. push ( function ( ) {cnx ( {playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″, }). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ),.

    Den of Geek was privileged to have a handful of some of our favorite celebrities and skill join us in our Manhattan workshop to discuss their movies, shows, and favourite things about the market in general. On YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or wherever you find your favorite internet videos of the day, you can find movies and clips of all these great conversations. But we’re also pleased to share with you some alternative features below from our friends &#8217, quit over at the Den of Geek Studio. &nbsp,

    Much Live the Express

    Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver, David Wain, Todd Holoubek, Ken Marino, Michael Patrick Jann, Michael Ian Black, and producer Matthew Perniciaro are among the customers.

    These days, people of funny band The State are perhaps more well known for projects like Reno 911!, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Wet Hot American Summer, and many, many, many other favorite sitcom titles. However, they all began making and appearing on the mid-’90s sketch comedy show The State on MTV.

    That is certainly where this writer knows them from and the same goes for the director of the new documentary about the show, Matt Perniciaro. Everyone is familiar with the group’s founders, but they don’t always know where it all began, he claims. Their style of comedy also grew from a place that most comedy groups don’t jump start their careers from. We started out as a sketch group made up of film students at NYU, according to David Wain. It wasn’t an improv group. Making film shorts was our main focus, just like sketching.

    While their style may be well known and almost mainstream to many viewers now, that wasn’t the case when they first started. They almost appeared to be the comedy’s punk rock kids. ” We thought we were really cool. We initially harbored this anti-establishment mentality,” says Kerri Kenny-Silver. ” I think it’s possibly from high school and feeling like you don’t necessarily fit in here and then you find this band of weirdos”. Todd Holoubeck, a fellow cast member, adds,” Nobody requested The Sex Pistols, but they did.” Nobody asked for The State, but they got The State”.

    By not seeing Long Live The State once you can, you are doing yourself a disservice, whether you are a devoted fan of The State or just someone who recognizes some of the most well-known faces in comedy.

    Rosemead

    Guests: Lucy Liu and Eric Lin

    Modern perceptions of mental health care are much more accepting and tolerant than they once were. Still, too many stigmas persist throughout the general public. This film, the directorial debut of director Eric Lin, centers on the lives of Irene ( Lucy Liu ) and her son Joe ( Lawrence Shou ), a diagnosed schizophrenic who has been struggling with his condition since his father passed away. Hiding her own terminal cancer diagnosis from many, including Joe, Irene fights to take care of Joe as his mental state spirals out of control. &nbsp,

    While the themes of Rosemead are universal, Lucy Liu reports that the film speaks directly to some stigmas that perpetuate the Chinese community. It’s a stigma that is very current; many people claim that school is a lot of pressure and stress, but it’s going to be fine. Just keep pushing through it”, Liu says. And I believe that is what this film tries to reveal. The idea that it’s something we sweep under the rug and we find embarrassing and we try to create a face that is different from what is reality”.

    Everyone else’s thoughts were also at the forefront of making this movie, which included portraying schizophrenia in a realistic way. As director Eric Lin puts it,” We did a lot of research on people’s experiences with schizophrenia and I will say that maybe one of the positive things about YouTube is that a lot of people record their psychotic episodes and put it online to talk people through it” .&nbsp,

    With its realistic depictions of life and its overarching themes of both the light and the dark, Rosemead is confident of impressing audiences.

    Seasoned

    Guests: Mandy Patinkin, Kathryn Grody, Gideon Grody-Patankin, Ewen Wright

    You never thought you would become a social media star until Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody are two actors, let alone two. Thanks to their son Gideon Grody-Patinkin ( and Covid in a strange” Thanks, Covid” moment ), however, Mandy and Kathry n’s social media profile become a thing of beauty and now has now led to Seasoned, a new TV show that had its pilot play at the 2025 Tribeca Festival.

    Seasoned is not just a half-hour version of Mandy and Kathryn TikTok. And thankfully, it isn’t what a lot of people pitched to the family first. We were frequently approached for reality television programs, and we had no interest in doing that, says Gideon Grody-Patankin. While this is a scripted show and not reality television, the way director Ewen Wright describes it, it is still very much Mandy and Kathryn. They “are dancing on top of it with the way they’d like to say something or add a line there,” he says. &nbsp,

    What is already there appears to be a component of Mandy Patinkin’s work ethic. As he likes to tell it, while there is always pressure to get things in on time, he wants to get as many options out into the air as possible,” My attitude is give them every possibility I can before we leave that angle. We need to move on because the sand is running through the hourglass and the clock is ticking.

    Though not exactly in the same realm, once Seasoned hits that airwaves, it will be a perfect replacement for people who want more Curb Your Enthusiasm. &nbsp,

    Paradise Records

    Guests: T. Man the Wizard and Logic

    Paradise Records is not a biopic but it is in many ways based on the life of its writer/director/producer/star Logic. Some may wonder why Logic would shoulder the burden of all those tasks on his first film ever. The performer has always known what he is capable of because he’s hit those barriers from others in the past,” I’ve been told’ NO’ a lot”, he says. And I understand it. I’m like,’ hey man, I rap, but I got this idea for a movie and I wrote the script and I want to direct it and I want to star in it and I want full creative control.’ You’d say,” Fuck you,” you know?

    And this is not a one time outing for Logic, either. He values movies just as much as music. He also is going to keep giving roles to people you may not expect to see cross over into acting,” As long as I’m blessed to keep making movies, I’m going to keep taking people that you might not typically see or may have never seen in a film and shed light on them”.

    His best friend, Tramayne Hudson, aka T Man the Wizard, is one of those people. And while Logic ( whose given name is Sir Robert Benson Hall II ), had a lot of top tier talent to work with on Paradise Records, T Man knew he had something special none of those other actors had,” I had a cheat code because Bob is my best friend. So that he could talk to me a little differently than he could talk to the rest of the actors on the set.

    Fior Di Latte&nbsp,

    Guests: Charlotte Ercoli, Marta Pozzan, and Tim Heidecker.

    Sense memory can be quite strong. We’ve all experienced those situations where a single scent, whether good or bad, unlocks a sense or state of being. For Max ( Tim Heidecker ) though, a single scent has overtaken his life in the new comedy written and directed by Charlotte Ercoli, Fior Di Latte.

    ” If you point any corner of this movie, it’s either something I’ve experienced or something that I’m interested in,” Ercoli says. And even though the lives of the film’s characters may be a little out there, they still remind the actors of themselves. Leading lady Marta Pozzan puts it best by saying,” I actually feel like Francesca’s a younger version of me. I don’t know if I’ll ever be that girl again but it was lovely to play her”.

    For as significant of a privilege as it is to have people like Marta and Tim carry your movie, it is also great to have the great Kevin Kline participate in it as well, a joy that isn’t lost on those who were once my heroes and one of the greats. To work with him, it was a dream come true” .&nbsp,

    The Sixth Borough

    Guests: Jason Pollard, Julian Petty, and Andrew Theodorakis

    Hip-Hop was a born in the South Bronx. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would say otherwise…and if they do, they &#8217, re wrong. And while the art form expanded and changed elsewhere in the world, Long Island is the only place on earth that is not credited with producing some of the world’s most notable artists. &nbsp,

    The Bridge is Over is one of the most well-known songs, and it is where Hip-Hop originated and they were dissing MC Shan in Queens, according to producer Julian Petty. So that whole concept of where you’re from defines you and defines your importance in Hip-Hop. And, Long Island has just been forgotten and forgotten.

    Through the vision of director Jason Pollard, The Sixth Borough documents the history of some of the most important rap acts that were birthed in Long Island. The names Public Enemy, De La Soul, EPMD, Eric B., and Rakim will be well known to so many people. But too many people don’t realize they all grew up and started their careers just minutes from each other in different Long Island towns. Without Rakim, you wouldn’t have the artists you currently have, expanding the art form in the manner that they are, as Jason might put it. So he deserves all the props we can give him”.

    Oh, Hello!

    Guests: Molly Gordon, Logan Lerman, and Sophie Brooks

    Relationships can be challenging. That shouldn’t be a shocking statement to anyone. We still exist in a world where we play strange relationship games and are woefully non-committal, though. And when Isaac ( Logan Lerman ) drops the bomb of how he sees his relationship with Iris ( Molly Gordon ) whilst in a very compromising position…things don’t go the way anyone planned.

    From a script co-written between Gordon and director Sophie Brooks, Oh, Hello! takes a high concept look at relationships. While the situations are heightened, everything starts from a real place for its creators, “The true jumping off point for this was that Sophie and I had relationships in our 20s that ended and we weren’t able to have a conversation that we wanted to have with them,” explains Gordon. Expanding on top of that, Sophie Brooks describes how that blossoms into what we see on screen, “There was certainly an element of wish fulfillment: In our darkest moments what would we do to try and keep someone’s attention?”

    Finding the appropriate tone for telling a story like this may be difficult. Do you go for the over the top comedy? Or is this a horror movie made? Sometimes these decisions come out of the shooting and editing process and not just the script. There are so many movies you could make out of the stuff we shot, according to Logan Lerman. Went in so many directions with it, tonally”.

    No matter what you personally take away from Oh, Hello! you’re in for a treat because no character holds back in this one. Just take Molly’s word for it, “It was so fun to get to play a character that would say some of the things that I would actually say because I have a very dirty, wild humor.”

    Man Finds Tape

    Peter Hall and Paul Gandersman as guests

    Man Finds Tape isn’t necessarily a found footage film but rather a faux documentary about a man who notices some very strange things around his town, all compounded by a mysterious tape he finds in his basement. &nbsp,

    Though it is in essence a mockumentary, most people would think of a comedy when you use that term. Co-director Peter Hall explains how Paul and he came to terms with the presentation of this movie, saying that the events that took place were essentially what they were writing. Then we had to reframe it as if documentarians found that footage. How would they go about producing a documentary about it? This would be the found footage version of it”.

    Additionally, the movie has some well-known names as producers, including Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead, as well as C. Robert and Jessica Cargill. ” Justin and Aaron flew from the set of filming Daredevil: Born Again straight to us. They left Daredevil and came right to us, where they were posing as they carried tools and ripped the tape off.” It was crazy.

    But Justin and Aaron did have suggestions, they weren’t there just to break down a set, Peter continues,” They really wanted us to lean into the weirdness of the film, to keep things enigmatic. They would say,” no guys, no guys,” if we ever felt like we had to overstate or pander to the audience. Paul follows up with just how important it is to have great collaborators,” It was incredible working with producers that just told you to make it weirder and answer less”.

    You’ll have to tell Peter and Paul when Man Finds Tape hits screens because they either answered too many questions or acted in a certain way in accordance with Benson and Moorhead’s instructions.

    The post Tribeca Festival 2025 Round-Up: Everything We Saw appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • Level Infinite Introduces Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s Very Good Doggy

    Level Infinite Introduces Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s Very Good Doggy

    With many facilities for both of the names it was revealing, Level Infinite undoubtedly participated at Summer Game Fest 2025, which was held on one of the larger places at the Play Days school. These games were the upcoming tactical extraction shooter Exoborne, developed by Sharkmob AB, and ambitious updates to the popular cooperative shooter Warhammer ]…]

    The first article on Den of Geek: Level Infinite Introduces Warhammer 40, 000: Darktide’s Extremely Fine Doggy appeared initially.

    The 2025 Tribeca Festival might have been the busiest and most electricity packed it has been in the past 10 years. The Tribeca Festival has been a potent melting pot of drama, music, activities, and video games as it got closer to its quarter-decade of life. While the 2025 version had all these avenues of pleasure available for the viewing government, its video offerings were jam-packed with great premieres and top level skill.

    cnx. powershell. cnx ( playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530 ), ) -push ( function ( ). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ), }),

    Some of our favorite actors and skill sat down with us in our Manhattan workshop to talk about their films, shows, and public favorite things about the market. Den of Geek was fortunate. You can find videos and movies of all these great discussions on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or wherever you find your favorite internet videos of the day. However, we’re pleased to share with you some of our customers ‘ stopovers at the Den of Geek Studio’s selection of shows below. &nbsp,

    Much Live the Express

    Customers: Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver, David Wain, Todd Holoubek, Ken Marino, Michael Patrick Jann, Michael Ian Black, and producer Matthew Perniciaro

    The State members are likely more well-known these days for tasks like Reno 911!, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Slippery Hot American Summer, and many other well-known comedy titles. But they all got their start creating and starring in the MTV mid-’90s picture comedy show, The State.

    This author is undoubtedly familiar with those things, and the same holds true for Matt Perniciaro, the chairman of the new documentary series about the present. ” All knows members of this group, but they don’t always know where it all started”, he says. Their comedy style also developed from a position that most funny organizations don’t jump-start their careers from. David Wain explains,” We came away as a picture group made up of video pupils at NYU. It wasn’t an improv class. We were as much about making video short, as we were about creating pictures”.

    Although their style may be well known and practically universal then, that wasn’t the situation when they first started out. It was almost as if they were the punk rock children of humor. We believed we were really great. We started out of the wall with this anti-establishment mentality”, Kerri Kenny-Silver says. ” I believe it’s probably from high school, feeling like you don’t always meet in here, and then you find this group of weirdos.” Other cast member Todd Holoubeck follows up,” Nobody asked for The Sex Pistols but they got The Gender Pistols. They received The State, but no one ever asked for it.

    Whether you’re a huge fan of The State or just someone who recognizes some of the most well known eyes in humor, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not checking over Long Live The Status once you can.

    Rosemead

    Guests: Eric Lin and Lucy Liu.

    Modern day perceptions of mental health care are much kinder and more open-minded than they once were. Still, the general public is plagued by too many stigmas. Based on real events, this directorial debut of cinematographer Eric Lin focuses on the lives of Irene ( Lucy Liu ), and her son Joe ( Lawrence Shou ), a diagnosed schizophrenic who battles with his condition since the passing of his father. Irene fights to take care of Joe as his mental state spirals out of control while hiding her own terminal cancer diagnosis from many, including Joe. &nbsp,

    Although Rosemead has universal themes, Lucy Liu claims that the movie addresses some of the stigmas that still affect the Chinese community. ” It is a stigma that is very current&#8230, a lot of times people say there is just a lot of pressure and stress from school, it’s going to be fine. Simply keep pushing, Liu advises. ” And I think that is what this movie is trying to bring to light. The notion that it’s something we sweep under the rug and find embarrassing, and that we try to make a face that’s different from reality.

    Portraying schizophrenia in a realistic way was also on the forefront of everyone’s minds when making this film. We conducted a lot of research into people’s experiences with schizophrenia, director Eric Lin said,” We did a lot of research on people’s experiences with schizophrenia and I will say that one of the advantages of YouTube is that many people record their psychotic episodes and post them online to help people through it.”

    Rosemead is prepped to both impress audiences with its realistic depictions of life and its overarching themes of both the light and the dark.

    Seasoned

    Guest list: Ewen Wright, Kathryn Wright, Gideon Grody-Patankin, and Mandy Patinkin.

    It would be safe to say that Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody are two actors you never thought would become social media stars. However, Mandy and Kathry n’s social media profile became a thing of beauty and now has resulted in Seasoned, a new TV show that had its pilot play at the 2025 Tribeca Festival thanks to their son Gideon Grody-Patinkin ( and Covid in a strange” Thanks, Covid” moment ).

    Seasoned is not merely the Mandy and Kathryn TikTok show put into a half-hour format. And thankfully, it isn’t what many people pitched to the family first. ” We were getting approached a lot for reality television shows and we had no interest in that”, explains Gideon Grody-Patankin. Although this is a scripted show and not a reality, director Ewen Wright describes it as being very much Mandy and Kathryn. ” The script is in their bones, but they’re dancing on top of it with the way they’d like to say something or add a line there”, he says. &nbsp,

    Adding on to what is already there seems to be part of Mandy Patinkin’s work ethic, too. While there is always pressure to get things done on time, he likes to say that his goal is to get as many options into the air as possible.” My attitude is give them every chance I can before we leave that angle,” he says. The clock is ticking, the sand’s running through the hourglass, we&#8217, ve got to move on”.

    Once Seasoned hits that airwaves, it will make a perfect replacement for those who want more Curb Your Enthusiasm, albeit not exactly in the same vein. &nbsp,

    Paradise Records

    Guests: Logic and T Man the Wizard

    Paradise Records is not a biopic, but it is in many ways based on the life of its writer, director, producer, and star Logic. Some may wonder why, on his first film ever, Logic would put the weight of all those jobs on his shoulders. The performer has always known what he can do because he’s faced obstacles in the past and has been told” NO” a lot. ” And I get it. I’m like, “hey man, I rap, but I got this idea for a movie and I wrote the script, I wanted to direct it, I wanted to be a star, and I wanted full creative control.” You’d be like,’ fuck you”.

    Additionally, Logic is not going to do this for a living. Movies are just as important to him as music. He also said,” As long as I’m blessed to keep making movies, I’m going to keep taking people that you might not normally see or may have never seen in a film and shining light on them.” He also said he will continue to give roles to people you might not expect to see cross over into acting.

    One of those people is his best friend, Tramayne Hudson, a. k. a T Man the Wizard. T Man knew he had a special talent none of those other actors had,” I had a cheat code because Bob is my best friend,” even though Logic ( whose given name is Sir Robert Benson Hall II ) had a lot of top notch talent to work with on Paradise Records. So he could talk to me a little differently than he could talk to everybody else on the set”.

    Fior Di Latte 

    Guests: Tim Heidecker, Marta Pozzan, and Charlotte Ercoli

    Very strong sense memory is possible. We’ve all had those moments where a single scent ( good or bad ) unlocks a memory or state of being. However, for Max ( Tim Heidecker ), a single scent has taken over his life in the new comedy Fior Di Latte, which was written and directed by Charlotte Ercoli.

    ” If you point to any corner of this movie it’s either something that I’ve experienced or something that I’m interested in”, Ercoli says. The actors still feel like they are themselves despite the fact that the film’s characters ‘ lives may be a little remote. Lead Marta Pozzan puts it best by saying,” I actually feel like Francesca’s a younger version of me. It was lovely to play her, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever be that girl again.

    For as important as it is to have people like Marta and Tim carry your film, it also is a great honor to have the great Kevin Kline take part in the process as well, a joy that isn’t lost on sometime likeTim Heidecker,” Kevin Kline was one of my heroes growing up, one of the greats. It was a dream come true to work with him.”

    The Sixth Borough

    Jason Pollard, Julian Petty, and Andrew Theodorakis as guests

    Fact: Hip-Hop was born in the South Bronx. It would be difficult to find anyone who would disagree, and if they do, they are completely incorrect. And while the art form grew and evolved in other areas of the world, there is one spot of the globe that doesn’t get credit for birthing some of the most important artists, Long Island. &nbsp,

    Producer Julian Petty puts the blight of Long Island’s recognition pretty succinctly,” One of the most famous songs,’ The Bridge is Over,’ is KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions talking about the Bronx, and this is where Hip-Hop originated and they were dissing MC Shan in Queens. So that is how you define who you are from and what your place of significance is in hip-hop. And, Long Island just got ignored and left behind”.

    The Sixth Borough documents some of the most significant rap acts that were established in Long Island through the vision of director Jason Pollard. So many people will know the names Public Enemy, De La Soul, EPMD, Eric B. and Rakim. However, too many people fail to realize that all of the residents of various Long Island towns were just minutes apart when they started their careers. As Jason puts it,” Rakim is the godfather of lyrical dexterity…without Rakim you don’t have the artists that you have now, expanding the art form the way they are. Therefore, he deserves every prop we can give.

    Oh, Hi!

    Molly Gordon, Logan Lerman, and Sophie Brooks as guests

    Relationships can be hard. That shouldn’t be a shocking statement to anyone. Yet, we still live in a world where playing weird relationship games/being woefully non-committal is a thing. And when Isaac ( Logan Lerman ) makes the most of his relationship with Iris ( Molly Gordon ) while he is in a very compromising position, things don’t go according to plan.

    From a script co-written between Gordon and director Sophie Brooks, Oh, Hi! takes a holistic view of relationships. While the situations are heightened, everything starts from a real place for its creators,” The true jumping off point for this was that Sophie and I had relationships in our 20s that ended and we weren’t able to have a conversation that we wanted to have with them”, explains Gordon. Beyond that, Sophie Brooks describes how that develops into what we see on screen,” There was unquestionably an element of wish fulfillment: In our darkest moments what would we do to try and keep someone’s attention”?

    It also may be hard to find the right tone for telling a story like this. Do you prefer outrageous comedy? Or do we make this a horror film? Sometimes these decisions are made as part of the filming and editing process, rather than just the script. As Logan Lerman puts it,” There’s so many movies you could make out of the stuff we shot. wildly varied with it, tonally.

    No matter what you personally take away from Oh, Hi! you’re in for a treat because this one’s protagonist doesn’t hold back. Just take Molly’s word for it,” It was so fun to get to play a character that would say some of the things that I would actually say because I have a very dirty, wild humor”.

    Man Finds Tape

    Guests: Peter Hall and Paul Gandersman

    Man Finds Tape is a fake documentary about a man who notices some very strange things in his hometown, all of which are made even more mysterious by a mysterious tape he discovers in his basement. &nbsp,

    Although it is essentially a mockumentary, the term” comedy” comes to mind for most people when they see it. Co-director Peter Hall explains how he and Paul found their footing for this film’s presentation,” The way we wrote this movie was we wrote essentially the events that happen. Then it had to be rearranged so that it looked like the footage had been discovered by documentarians. How would they go about making a documentary about it? This would be the modified version of it using found footage.

    The film also has some very familiar names attached to it as producers such as C. Robert and Jessica Cargill as well as Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead. Justin and Aaron “flyed straight from the set of Daredevil: Born Again to us.” It was crazy that they left Daredevil, came straight to us and they were doing things like carrying gear and ripping gaffer tape up” .&nbsp,

    However, Justin and Aaron did make suggestions; they weren’t there just to tear down a set, according to Peter,” They really wanted us to lean into the weirdness of the film, to keep things enigmatic,” they continued. Anytime we thought we had to over explain or pander to the audience, they were like,’ no guys.’” Paul continues by stating how crucial it is to have great collaborators:” It was incredible working with producers who just told you to make it weirder and answer less.”

    When Man Finds Tape finds its way onto your screens, you’ll have to tell Peter and Paul if they answered too much, or they followed Benson and Moorhead’s advice to a T.

    Everything We Saw at the Tribeca Festival 2025 Round-Up appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • How Squid Game Season 3 Honors The Series’ Breakout Character

    How Squid Game Season 3 Honors The Series’ Breakout Character

    Time 3 of the Squid Game has clues in this article. By the movie’s quite nature, Squid Game is no stranger to ripping favorite characters from our grasp just as we’ve come to appreciate them. Even the heroes we love and detest tend to change and change as quickly, causing us and the other players to […]…

    The post How Squid Game Season 3 Honors The Series ‘ Breakthrough Character appeared first on Den of Geek.

    The 2025 Tribeca Festival might have been the busiest and most popular event it has seen in the previous ten years. As it inched closer to its third generation of life, the Tribeca Festival has been a productive melting dish of drama, music, sports, and video games. Although the 2025 model featured all of these avenues of pleasure for the public, its movie offerings were jam-packed with great premieres and top-tier actors.

    cnx. command. push ( function ( ) {cnx ( {playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″, }). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ),

    Den of Geek was privileged to have a handful of some of our favorite celebrities and skill join us in our Manhattan workshop to discuss their movies, shows, and favourite things about the market in general. On YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or wherever you find your favorite internet videos of the day, you can find movies and clips of all these great conversations. But we’re also pleased to share with you some alternative features below from our friends &#8217, quit over at the Den of Geek Studio. &nbsp,

    Much Live the Express

    Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver, David Wain, Todd Holoubek, Ken Marino, Michael Patrick Jann, Michael Ian Black, and producer Matthew Perniciaro are among the visitors.

    These days, users of funny band The State are perhaps more well known for projects like Reno 911!, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Wet Hot American Summer, and many, many, many other precious funny titles. However, they all began to make and appear in the mid-’90s sketch comedy series The State on MTV.

    That is certainly where this writer knows them from and the same goes for the director of the new documentary about the show, Matt Perniciaro. Everyone is familiar with the group’s founders, but they don’t always know where it all began, he claims. Their style of comedy also grew from a place that most comedy groups don’t jump start their careers from. We started out as a sketch group made up of film students at NYU, according to David Wain. It wasn’t an improv group. We were just as focused on making movie shorts as we were on making sketches.

    While their style may be well known and almost mainstream to many viewers now, that wasn’t the case when they first started. It almost seemed like they were the comedy’s punk rock kids. ” We thought we were really cool. We started off with this anti-establishment mindset,” says Kerri Kenny-Silver. ” I think it’s possibly from high school and feeling like you don’t necessarily fit in here and then you find this band of weirdos”. Todd Holoubeck, a fellow cast member, adds,” Nobody requested The Sex Pistols, but they got The Sex Pistols.” Nobody asked for The State, but they got The State”.

    By not seeing Long Live The State once you can, you are doing yourself a disservice, whether you are a devoted fan of The State or just someone who recognizes some of the most well-known faces in comedy.

    Rosemead

    Guests: Lucy Liu and Eric Lin

    Modern perceptions of mental health care are much more accepting and tolerant than they once were. Still, too many stigmas persist throughout the general public. This directorial debut of director Eric Lin, based on true events, centers on the lives of Irene ( Lucy Liu ) and her son Joe ( Lawrence Shou ), a diagnosed schizophrenic who has been struggling with his condition since his father passed away. Hiding her own terminal cancer diagnosis from many, including Joe, Irene fights to take care of Joe as his mental state spirals out of control. &nbsp,

    While the themes of Rosemead are universal, Lucy Liu reports that the film speaks directly to some stigmas that perpetuate the Chinese community. It is a stigma that is very current; many people claim that school is a lot of pressure and stress, but it will be fine. Just keep pushing through it”, Liu says. And I believe that is what this film tries to reveal. The idea that it’s something we sweep under the rug and we find embarrassing and we try to create a face that is different from what is reality”.

    Everyone else’s thoughts were also at the forefront of making this movie, which included portraying schizophrenia in a realistic way. As director Eric Lin puts it,” We did a lot of research on people’s experiences with schizophrenia and I will say that maybe one of the positive things about YouTube is that a lot of people record their psychotic episodes and put it online to talk people through it” .&nbsp,

    With its realistic depictions of life and its overarching themes of both the light and the dark, Rosemead is confident of impressing audiences.

    Seasoned

    Guests: Mandy Patinkin, Kathryn Grody, Gideon Grody-Patankin, Ewen Wright

    You never thought you would work with social media stars, but it’s safe to say that Kathryn Grody and Mandy Patinkin are two actors who will make a good team. Thanks to their son Gideon Grody-Patinkin ( and Covid in a strange” Thanks, Covid” moment ), however, Mandy and Kathry n’s social media profile become a thing of beauty and now has now led to Seasoned, a new TV show that had its pilot play at the 2025 Tribeca Festival.

    Seasoned is not just the Mandy and Kathryn TikTok show that was adapted for a half-hour format. And thankfully, it isn’t what a lot of people pitched to the family first. We had no interest in reality television, according to Gideon Grody-Patankin, who frequently approached us with inquiries. While this is a scripted show and not reality television, the way director Ewen Wright describes it, it is still very much Mandy and Kathryn. The script is in their bones, but he claims they are “dancing on top of it” with their preferred way to say something or add a line there. &nbsp,

    Add to what is already there seems to be a component of Mandy Patinkin’s work ethic, too. As he likes to tell it, while there is always pressure to get things in on time, he wants to get as many options out into the air as possible,” My attitude is give them every possibility I can before we leave that angle. We need to move on because the sand is running through the hourglass and the clock is ticking.

    Though not exactly in the same realm, once Seasoned hits that airwaves, it will be a perfect replacement for people who want more Curb Your Enthusiasm. &nbsp,

    Paradise Records

    Logic and T Man the Wizard as guests

    Paradise Records is not a biopic but it is in many ways based on the life of its writer/director/producer/star Logic. Some may wonder why Logic would put the strain of all those tasks on his shoulders on his first film ever. The performer has always known what he is capable of because he’s hit those barriers from others in the past,” I’ve been told’ NO’ a lot”, he says. And I understand it. I’m like,’ hey man, I rap, but I got this idea for a movie and I wrote the script and I want to direct it and I want to star in it and I want full creative control.’ You’d be like,” Fuck you!”

    And this is not a one time outing for Logic, either. He values movies more than music. He also is going to keep giving roles to people you may not expect to see cross over into acting,” As long as I’m blessed to keep making movies, I’m going to keep taking people that you might not typically see or may have never seen in a film and shed light on them”.

    His best friend, Tramayne Hudson, aka T Man the Wizard, is one of those people. And while Logic ( whose given name is Sir Robert Benson Hall II ), had a lot of top tier talent to work with on Paradise Records, T Man knew he had something special none of those other actors had,” I had a cheat code because Bob is my best friend. So that he could talk to me a little differently than he could talk to the rest of the actors on the set.

    Fior Di Latte&nbsp,

    Tim Heidecker, Marta Pozzan, and Charlotte Ercoli among the guests

    Sense memory can be quite strong. We’ve all experienced the situation where a single scent, whether good or bad, unlocks a sense or state of being. For Max ( Tim Heidecker ) though, a single scent has overtaken his life in the new comedy written and directed by Charlotte Ercoli, Fior Di Latte.

    ” If you point any corner of this movie, it’s either something I’ve experienced or something that I’m interested in,” Ercoli says. And even though the lives of the film’s characters may be a little out there, they still remind the actors of themselves. I actually feel like Francesca is a younger version of me, says Lead Marta Pozzan, “at least in my opinion.” I don’t know if I’ll ever be that girl again but it was lovely to play her”.

    It’s a great honor to have the great Kevin Kline take part in the production of your film, a joy that isn’t lost on some people like Tim Heidecker,” Kevin Kline was one of my heroes growing up, one of the greats.” To work with him, it was a dream come true” .&nbsp,

    The Sixth Borough

    Guests: Jason Pollard, Julian Petty, and Andrew Theodorakis

    Hip-Hop was a South Bronx native, according to legend. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would say otherwise…and if they do, they &#8217, re wrong. And while the art form expanded and changed elsewhere in the world, Long Island is the only place on earth that is not credited with producing some of the world’s most notable artists. &nbsp,

    Producer Julian Petty succinctly summarizes the blight of Long Island’s recognition:” One of the most well-known songs,” The Bridge is Over,” is where Hip-Hop originated and they were dissing MC Shan in Queens. So that whole concept of where you’re from defines you and defines your importance in Hip-Hop. And, Long Island has just been forgotten and forgotten.

    Through the vision of director Jason Pollard, The Sixth Borough documents the history of some of the most important rap acts that were birthed in Long Island. The names Public Enemy, De La Soul, EPMD, Eric B., and Rakim will be well known to so many people. But too many people don’t realize they all grew up and started their careers just minutes from each other in different Long Island towns. Without Rakim, you wouldn’t have the artists you have today, expanding the art form the way they are, as Jason might put it.” Rakim is the godfather of lyrical dexterity,” he says. So he deserves all the props we can give him”.

    Oh, hello!

    Guests: Molly Gordon, Logan Lerman, and Sophie Brooks

    Relationships can be challenging. That shouldn’t be a shocking statement to anyone. We still exist in a world where we play strange relationship games and are woefully non-committal, though. And when Isaac ( Logan Lerman ) drops the bomb of how he sees his relationship with Iris ( Molly Gordon ) whilst in a very compromising position…things don’t go the way anyone planned.

    From a script co-written between Gordon and director Sophie Brooks, Oh, hello! takes a high concept look at relationships. While the situations are heightened, everything starts from a real place for its creators, “The true jumping off point for this was that Sophie and I had relationships in our 20s that ended and we weren’t able to have a conversation that we wanted to have with them,” explains Gordon. Expanding on top of that, Sophie Brooks describes how that blossoms into what we see on screen, “There was certainly an element of wish fulfillment: In our darkest moments what would we do to try and keep someone’s attention?”

    Finding the appropriate tone for telling a story like this may be difficult. Do you go for the over the top comedy? Or do we actually make this a horror movie? Sometimes these decisions come out of the shooting and editing process and not just the script. There are so many movies you could make out of the stuff we shot, according to Logan Lerman. Went in so many directions with it, tonally”.

    No matter what you personally take away from Oh, hello! you’re in for a treat because no character holds back in this one. Just take Molly’s word for it, “It was so fun to get to play a character that would say some of the things that I would actually say because I have a very dirty, wild humor.”

    Man Finds Tape

    Peter Hall and Paul Gandersman as guests

    Man Finds Tape isn’t necessarily a found footage film but rather a faux documentary about a man who notices some very strange things around his town, all compounded by a mysterious tape he finds in his basement. &nbsp,

    Though it is in essence a mockumentary, most people would think of a comedy when you use that term. Co-director Peter Hall explains how Paul and he came to terms with the presentation of this movie, saying that the events that took place were essentially what they were writing. Then we had to reframe it as if documentarians found that footage. What would be the process for producing a documentary about it? This would be the found footage version of it”.

    Additionally, the movie features some well-known producers, including C. Robert and Jessica Cargill as well as Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead. ” Justin and Aaron flew from the set of filming Daredevil: Born Again straight to us. It was crazy that they left Daredevil and headed straight to us, where they were lugging equipment and ripping up gaffer tape.

    But Justin and Aaron did have suggestions, they weren’t there just to break down a set, Peter continues,” They really wanted us to lean into the weirdness of the film, to keep things enigmatic. Anytime we figured we had to overstate or make a joke to the audience, they would say,” no guys.” Paul follows up with just how important it is to have great collaborators,” It was incredible working with producers that just told you to make it weirder and answer less”.

    You’ll have to tell Peter and Paul when Man Finds Tape hits screens because they gave in to Benson and Moorhead’s orders.

    The post Tribeca Festival 2025 Round-Up: Everything We Saw appeared first on Den of Geek.

  • Tribeca Festival 2025 Round-Up: Everything We Saw

    Tribeca Festival 2025 Round-Up: Everything We Saw

    The Tribeca Festival’s 2025 may have been the busiest and most popular event in ten times. As it inched closer to its third generation of life, the Tribeca Festival has been a productive melting dish of drama, music, sports, and video games. Although the 2025 version had all of these options […]

    The article Tribeca Festival 2025 Round-Up: Everything We Saw appeared second on Den of Geek.

    The 2025 Tribeca Festival might have been the busiest and most popular event it has seen in the previous ten years. As it inched closer to its third generation of life, the Tribeca Festival has been a productive melting dish of drama, music, sports, and video games. Although the 2025 model featured all of these avenues of pleasure for the public, its movie offerings were jam-packed with great premieres and top-tier actors.

    cnx. command. push ( function ( ) {cnx ( {playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″, }). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ),.

    Den of Geek was privileged to have a handful of some of our favorite celebrities and skill join us in our Manhattan workshop to discuss their movies, shows, and favourite things about the market in general. On YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or wherever you find your favorite internet videos of the day, you can find movies and clips of all these great conversations. But we’re also pleased to share with you some alternative features below from our friends &#8217, quit over at the Den of Geek Studio. &nbsp,

    Much Live the Express

    Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver, David Wain, Todd Holoubek, Ken Marino, Michael Patrick Jann, Michael Ian Black, and producer Matthew Perniciaro are among the customers.

    These times, members of funny band The State are perhaps more well known for projects like Reno 911!, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Wet Hot American Summer, and many, many, many other favorite sitcom titles. However, they all began making and appearing on the mid-’90s sketch comedy show The State on MTV.

    That is certainly where this writer knows them from and the same goes for the director of the new documentary about the show, Matt Perniciaro. Everyone is familiar with the group’s founders, but they don’t always know where it all began, he claims. Their style of comedy also grew from a place that most comedy groups don’t jump start their careers from. We started out as a sketch group made up of film students at NYU, according to David Wain. It wasn’t an improv group. We were just as focused on making movie shorts as we were on making sketches.

    While their style may be well known and almost mainstream to many viewers now, that wasn’t the case when they first started. They almost appeared to be the comedy’s punk rock kids. ” We thought we were really cool. We had this anti-establishment mentality right out of the gate,” says Kerri Kenny-Silver. ” I think it’s possibly from high school and feeling like you don’t necessarily fit in here and then you find this band of weirdos”. Todd Holoubeck, a fellow cast member, adds,” Nobody requested The Sex Pistols, but they did.” Nobody asked for The State, but they got The State”.

    By not seeing Long Live The State as often as you can, you’re doing yourself a disservice, whether you’re a huge fan of The State or just someone who recognizes some of the most well-known comedians.

    Rosemead

    Guests: Lucy Liu and Eric Lin

    Modern perceptions of mental health care are much more accepting and tolerant than they once were. Still, too many stigmas persist throughout the general public. This film, a directorial debut from director Eric Lin, centers on the lives of Irene ( Lucy Liu ) and her son Joe ( Lawrence Shou ), a diagnosed schizophrenic who has been struggling with his condition since his father passed away. Hiding her own terminal cancer diagnosis from many, including Joe, Irene fights to take care of Joe as his mental state spirals out of control. &nbsp,

    While the themes of Rosemead are universal, Lucy Liu reports that the film speaks directly to some stigmas that perpetuate the Chinese community. It’s a stigma that is very current; many people claim that school is a lot of pressure and stress, but it’s going to be fine. Just keep pushing through it”, Liu says. And I believe that is what this film tries to reveal. The idea that it’s something we sweep under the rug and we find embarrassing and we try to create a face that is different from what is reality”.

    Everyone else’s thoughts were also at the forefront of creating this movie when it came to portray schizophrenia realistically. As director Eric Lin puts it,” We did a lot of research on people’s experiences with schizophrenia and I will say that maybe one of the positive things about YouTube is that a lot of people record their psychotic episodes and put it online to talk people through it” .&nbsp,

    Rosemead is designed to impress viewers with its realistic depictions of life and its overarching themes of both the light and the dark.

    Seasoned

    Guests: Mandy Patinkin, Kathryn Grody, Gideon Grody-Patankin, Ewen Wright

    You never thought you would become a social media star until Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody are two actors, let alone two. Thanks to their son Gideon Grody-Patinkin ( and Covid in a strange” Thanks, Covid” moment ), however, Mandy and Kathry n’s social media profile become a thing of beauty and now has now led to Seasoned, a new TV show that had its pilot play at the 2025 Tribeca Festival.

    Seasoned is not just the Mandy and Kathryn TikTok show condensed into a half-hour format. And thankfully, it isn’t what a lot of people pitched to the family first. We were frequently approached for reality television shows, but we had no interest in doing that, says Gideon Grody-Patankin. While this is a scripted show and not reality television, the way director Ewen Wright describes it, it is still very much Mandy and Kathryn. The script is in their bones, but he claims they are “dancing on top of it” with their preferred way to say something or add a line there. &nbsp,

    What is already there appears to be a component of Mandy Patinkin’s work ethic. As he likes to tell it, while there is always pressure to get things in on time, he wants to get as many options out into the air as possible,” My attitude is give them every possibility I can before we leave that angle. We&#8217, ve got to move on, the sand is running through the hourglass, and the clock is ticking.

    Though not exactly in the same realm, once Seasoned hits that airwaves, it will be a perfect replacement for people who want more Curb Your Enthusiasm. &nbsp,

    Paradise Records

    Logic and T. Man the Wizard as guests

    Paradise Records is not a biopic but it is in many ways based on the life of its writer/director/producer/star Logic. Some may wonder why Logic would shoulder the burden of all those tasks on his first film ever. The performer has always known what he is capable of because he’s hit those barriers from others in the past,” I’ve been told’ NO’ a lot”, he says. And I understand it. I’m like,’ hey man, I rap, but I got this idea for a movie and I wrote the script and I want to direct it and I want to star in it and I want full creative control.’ You’d be like,” Fuck you!”

    And this is not a one time outing for Logic, either. He values movies more than music. He also is going to keep giving roles to people you may not expect to see cross over into acting,” As long as I’m blessed to keep making movies, I’m going to keep taking people that you might not typically see or may have never seen in a film and shed light on them”.

    One of those people is Tramayne Hudson, a.k .a. T Man the Wizard, his best friend. And while Logic ( whose given name is Sir Robert Benson Hall II ), had a lot of top tier talent to work with on Paradise Records, T Man knew he had something special none of those other actors had,” I had a cheat code because Bob is my best friend. So that he could approach me a little differently from how he could approach the rest of the actors on the set.

    Fior Di Latte&nbsp,

    Guests: Charlotte Ercoli, Marta Pozzan, and Tim Heidecker.

    Sense memory can be quite strong. We’ve all experienced those situations where a single scent, whether good or bad, unlocks a sense or state of being. For Max ( Tim Heidecker ) though, a single scent has overtaken his life in the new comedy written and directed by Charlotte Ercoli, Fior Di Latte.

    ” If you point any corner of this movie, it’s either something I’ve experienced or something that I’m interested in,” Ercoli says. And even though the lives of the film’s characters may be a little out there, they still remind the actors of themselves. Leading lady Marta Pozzan puts it best by saying,” I actually feel like Francesca’s a younger version of me. I don’t know if I’ll ever be that girl again but it was lovely to play her”.

    For as significant of a privilege as it is to have people like Marta and Tim carry your movie, it is also great to have the great Kevin Kline participate in it as well, a joy that isn’t lost on those who were once my heroes and one of the greats. To work with him, it was a dream come true” .&nbsp,

    The Sixth Borough

    Guests: Jason Pollard, Julian Petty, and Andrew Theodorakis

    Hip-Hop was a South Bronx native, according to legend. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would say otherwise…and if they do, they &#8217, re wrong. And while the art form expanded and changed elsewhere in the world, Long Island is the only place on earth that is not credited with producing some of the world’s most notable artists. &nbsp,

    Producer Julian Petty succinctly summarizes the blight of Long Island’s recognition:” One of the most well-known songs,” The Bridge is Over,” is where Hip-Hop originated and they were dissing MC Shan in Queens. So that whole concept of where you’re from defines you and defines your importance in Hip-Hop. And, Long Island has just been forgotten and forgotten.

    Through the vision of director Jason Pollard, The Sixth Borough documents the history of some of the most important rap acts that were birthed in Long Island. The names Public Enemy, De La Soul, EPMD, Eric B., and Rakim are well known to so many people. But too many people don’t realize they all grew up and started their careers just minutes from each other in different Long Island towns. Without Rakim, you wouldn’t have the artists you have today, expanding the art form the way they are, as Jason might put it. So he deserves all the props we can give him”.

    Oh, Hello!

    Guests: Molly Gordon, Logan Lerman, and Sophie Brooks

    Relationships can be challenging. That shouldn’t be a shocking statement to anyone. We still exist in a world where it’s okay to be weird and be woefully non-committal. And when Isaac ( Logan Lerman ) drops the bomb of how he sees his relationship with Iris ( Molly Gordon ) whilst in a very compromising position…things don’t go the way anyone planned.

    From a script co-written between Gordon and director Sophie Brooks, Oh, Hello! takes a high concept look at relationships. While the situations are heightened, everything starts from a real place for its creators, “The true jumping off point for this was that Sophie and I had relationships in our 20s that ended and we weren’t able to have a conversation that we wanted to have with them,” explains Gordon. Expanding on top of that, Sophie Brooks describes how that blossoms into what we see on screen, “There was certainly an element of wish fulfillment: In our darkest moments what would we do to try and keep someone’s attention?”

    Additionally, it might be difficult to determine the ideal tone for telling a story like this. Do you go for the over the top comedy? Or is this a horror movie made? Sometimes these decisions come out of the shooting and editing process and not just the script. There are so many movies you could make out of the stuff we shot, as Logan Lerman puts it. Went in so many directions with it, tonally”.

    No matter what you personally take away from Oh, Hello! you’re in for a treat because no character holds back in this one. Just take Molly’s word for it, “It was so fun to get to play a character that would say some of the things that I would actually say because I have a very dirty, wild humor.”

    Man Finds Tape

    Peter Hall and Paul Gandersman among the guests

    Man Finds Tape isn’t necessarily a found footage film but rather a faux documentary about a man who notices some very strange things around his town, all compounded by a mysterious tape he finds in his basement. &nbsp,

    Though it is in essence a mockumentary, most people would think of a comedy when you use that term. Co-director Peter Hall explains how he and Paul found their footing for the presentation of this movie,” The way we wrote this movie was we wrote essentially the events that happen.” Then we had to reframe it as if documentarians found that footage. How would they go about producing a documentary about it? This would be the found footage version of it”.

    Additionally, the movie has some well-known names as producers, including Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead, as well as C. Robert and Jessica Cargill. ” Justin and Aaron flew from the set of filming Daredevil: Born Again straight to us. They left Daredevil and came right to us, where they were posing as they carried tools and ripped the tape off.” It was crazy.

    But Justin and Aaron did have suggestions, they weren’t there just to break down a set, Peter continues,” They really wanted us to lean into the weirdness of the film, to keep things enigmatic. They would say,” no guys, no guys,” if we ever felt like we had to overstate or pander to the audience. Paul follows up with just how important it is to have great collaborators,” It was incredible working with producers that just told you to make it weirder and answer less”.

    When Man Finds Tape hits your screens, you’ll have to tell Peter and Paul if they gave in to Benson and Moorhead’s orders or if they followed them.

    The article Tribeca Festival 2025 Round-Up: Everything We Saw appeared second on Den of Geek.

  • The Four Conversations: Blair Enns on Leading, Pricing, and Selling Expertise

    The Four Conversations: Blair Enns on Leading, Pricing, and Selling Expertise

    The Four Conversations: Blair Enns on Leading, Pricing, and Selling Expertise written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

    Listen to the full episode:  Overview In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, John Jantsch interviews Blair Enns, founder of Win Without Pitching and a leading authority on selling creative and consulting expertise. Blair shares insights from his new book, The Four Conversations, which distills decades of agency wisdom into a clear roadmap […]

    The Four Conversations: Blair Enns on Leading, Pricing, and Selling Expertise written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

    Listen to the full episode: 

    Blair Enns with DTM PodcastOverview

    In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, John Jantsch interviews Blair Enns, founder of Win Without Pitching and a leading authority on selling creative and consulting expertise. Blair shares insights from his new book, The Four Conversations, which distills decades of agency wisdom into a clear roadmap for moving from pitching and price-haggling to confidently leading client relationships. Listeners will discover how to shift from vendor to trusted advisor, raise closing rates, price based on value, and master the four pivotal conversations that define every successful client engagement.

    About the Guest

    Blair Enns is the founder of Win Without Pitching and the author of several acclaimed books on agency sales, pricing, and positioning. Over the past two decades, Blair has helped thousands of agencies and consultancies around the world move away from free pitching and price wars toward leading client engagements and charging for their expertise. His latest book, The Four Conversations, offers a practical framework for mastering the most crucial moments in every client relationship.

    Actionable Insights

    • Most agencies close far fewer deals than they think—often just 25%. Doubling your close rate and raising prices by 20% can dramatically improve profitability.
    • The “four conversations” framework: Probative (demonstrate expertise), Qualifying (vet fit for both parties), Value (define value to be created and price accordingly), Closing (help the client select and commit to a path forward).
    • Selling expertise is not about convincing or manipulating—it’s about guiding, questioning, and facilitating the client’s best decision.
    • True leadership in sales means moving from statements about yourself to questions about the client, and from eagerness for the work to discernment and selectivity.
    • Pricing should begin with a value conversation—anchoring fees to outcomes, not just deliverables or time spent.
    • Productizing your service delivery is compatible with pricing each client based on value, not a fixed menu.
    • To move from vendor to trusted advisor, adopt the “expert’s mantra”: I am the expert, I am the prize, I’m on a mission to help, and I can only do that if you let me lead. All will not follow—and that’s okay.

    Great Moments (with Timestamps)

    • 01:16 – The True Cost of Letting Clients Lead
      Blair breaks down the impact of poor sales practices on close rates and pricing power.
    • 04:45 – The Four Conversations Model
      An overview of the probative, qualifying, value, and closing conversations that shape every client relationship.
    • 06:23 – Selling as Guiding, Not Convincing
      Why selling expertise is about facilitating clients’ choices, not talking them into a decision.
    • 07:47 – From Proving Brilliance to Asking Questions
      The shift from statements to questions is at the heart of expert selling.
    • 13:37 – Value-Based Pricing in Action
      Blair walks through starting the pricing conversation with outcomes, not just deliverables.
    • 20:47 – The Expert’s Mantra
      A mindset framework for making the leap from vendor to trusted advisor.

    Pulled Quotes

    “Selling is not talking people into things. It’s about guiding, questioning, and facilitating the client’s best decision.”
    — Blair Enns

    “I am the expert, I am the prize. I’m on a mission to help. I can only do that if you let me lead. All will not follow—and that’s okay.”
    — Blair Enns

    Resources

    John Jantsch (00:00.802)

    Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duck Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantsch. My guest today is Blair Enns. He’s a leading voice in the creative and consulting agency world, best known as the founder of Win Without Pitching. Over two decades, he’s helped thousands of agencies move from pitching and price haggling to confidently leading client engagements and charging for their expertise. We’re going to talk about his latest book, The Four Conversations, a new model for selling expertise.

    Book distills decades of hard won wisdom into a practical roadmap for navigating the most crucial moments in every client relationship. So Blair, welcome to the show.

    Blair Enns (00:40.337)

    Thank you, John.

    John Jantsch (00:42.85)

    So let’s get some leverage. How much in your estimation do you think, what do you think the real cost day to day when agencies let clients run the show instead of leading the conversation?

    Blair Enns (00:55.611)

    What’s the real cost of letting clients run the conversation?

    John Jantsch (00:58.734)

    Yeah, I mean, instead of us, you know, a lot about the four conversations is really providing leadership in the conversation. So I see a lot of agencies that show up and say, what do need? Sure, we do that. And I think that’s what really leads to this price haggling, doesn’t it?

    Blair Enns (01:16.091)

    Yeah. So if I start to, I’ve never contemplated the total cost here, but we could do some math on the fly. The typical agency has a closing ratio of about 25%. I can actually be more specific than that. It’s oddly specific at 26%, which seems to be a universal number across all B2B sales. Now that’s when we measure it. It’s 26%. Self-declared, it’s closer to 33%. So an agency will tell you we close one in three proposals.

    when we crack open the CRM and look at it, they close one in four. I think the threshold of respectability in a closing ratio is 40%. You should strive to be over 50%. So if you’re closing less than 50%, A, you’re probably writing too many proposals, B, you’re probably doing something wrong in the proposals. So let’s say you’re closing half as many proposals as you should. So there’s a starting point. And then there’s pricing. Are you getting, are you commanding,

    your fair share of the value that you’re helping to create in the typical agency is not. I can’t give you a percentage on that, but I would guess it’s another 20 % across the board. The typical agency could probably increase their prices by 20%. Now with existing clients, not necessarily. They can raise prices with existing clients on average. It’s difficult with larger agencies. We’re dealing with procurement.

    But if you draw a line in time, this is after today, after you’ve absorbed this information, you start to sell this way, your average proposal value should climb by 20 % easily. take the size of your firm, add 20 % to the top line, double your closing ratio. That’s the cost of poor selling.

    John Jantsch (03:05.014)

    So how much of that, I might leave myself right into a trap here, but how much of that is marketing and how much of that is sales? So in other words, you and I have written books that comes with, in some cases, perceived trust and perceived authority, expect to pay a premium in a lot of cases. So how much of that is done on the front end and how much of that is done in the sales conversation?

    Blair Enns (03:09.383)

    Ha ha ha.

    Blair Enns (03:28.829)

    Well, most of what I just talked about is what happens in the sales conversation, which to me is after the initial interaction. So if we’re talking about marketing is to generate leads, that’s a whole other ball of wax. Now, depending on who you are in the organization, how it thinks about sales and marketing, in some organizations, some agencies, lead generation can be seen as a sales function.

    And in others, it’s seen as a marketing function. Typically, it’s seen as a bit of both or a specific combination of both in the average firm. The better your marketing goes the saying, the less selling you have to do. But that’s an interpretation of that statement. It’s really about seeing that statement views selling as lead generation. But there’s all this stuff that I just referenced, which is what happens after you begin the conversation with the lead. So there’s a whole other

    area of improvement to be had under the banner of marketing.

    John Jantsch (04:28.942)

    Yeah, and it’s probably the combination just amplifies everything, right? The combination of both of those being effective amplifies everything. So let’s just go right to the title of the book. What are the four conversations and why do they keep happening no matter how seasoned somebody is?

    Blair Enns (04:45.349)

    Yeah, so the four conversations, this is a model. A model is a view of the world, a way of organizing complexity. All models are wrong. Some are useful. The book opens with that quote. So I’m not saying the sale always happens in a series of four linear and discrete conversations, but it is helpful to think of it that way. So the four conversations and their objective are the probative conversation, where your goal is to prove your expertise to the client and move in their mind from a position of a vendor to the expert.

    That’s the conversation that happens without your president. Your marketing would be under the domain of the probative conversation. It’s a conversation in construct only. It happens through your agents of thought leadership, referral, referrers, and your marketing. And then you have the three person to person conversation that happened after that, which you would think of as the sales conversations. There’s the qualifying conversation, which is the vetting conversation. You’re vetting the lead to see if this is something worth spending your time on.

    There’s the value conversation where you’re uncovering the value to be created and the share of that value you might command in the form of fees. So you’re starting to set not price, but pricing guidance, rough approximate pricing guidance based on the value to be created rather than the cost of your solutions. And then the final conversation is the closing conversation where you help the client commit and select, select and commit to a path forward.

    John Jantsch (06:11.224)

    You know what I love about as I listen to you talk about all four of those conversations, they’re not about like manipulating or getting this thing that you want done. They’re really about creating value for both parties, right?

    Blair Enns (06:23.109)

    Yeah, I’m a big believer in the idea that selling is not talking people into things. I think, you know, we make this distinction or we I make the distinction in the book, you know, between expert and vendor. And you think of your expert self, the way you operate as an expert, you’re in your relationships with your clients. So after sale, the way you show up, you’re kind of you’re an advisor. You facilitate choice. You point out the pros and cons of decisions.

    John Jantsch (06:28.59)

    Right.

    Blair Enns (06:52.061)

    You give the client some decisions to make, you point out the pros and cons of those decisions, and I think that’s how you should navigate the sale as well.

    John Jantsch (06:59.63)

    I talked to a lot of agencies that I’m sure you’ve heard this quite often as well. They feel like they’re giving away their expertise, pitching for free, giving consultations to show that they know what they’re talking about and really all along the way kind of giving it away. do you get people out of that place of being stuck?

    Blair Enns (07:19.121)

    Well, there’s no short answer to the question of how you get people out of that. You write a book on a model, you get them to read the book and implement the guidance in the book is the short one. But as you point out, it’s hard. I myself, I struggle with this a lot. I’ve for years, it’s been the hardest thing for me to go from seeing myself as the person with the answers, the subject matter expert, to the person with the questions. So if you think of how a typical marketer shows up in the sale,

    John Jantsch (07:45.294)

    Mm.

    Blair Enns (07:47.655)

    They wanna prove their brilliance. And yeah, we do that in the probative conversation, but that’s the conversation that happens without you present. Once you’re in a conversation with an individual, instead of trying to prove your brilliance, you should arm yourself with a set of questions. And so in our model of the four conversations, each conversation has a framework or set of frameworks, has a specific objective, which I shared with you, and then a framework or set of frameworks.

    for navigating to that objective. Now those frameworks are almost all questions. So the short answer to how is you go from statements about yourself to questions about the client.

    John Jantsch (08:29.058)

    Well, and those statements often are not just about yourself. They might actually be offering solutions, right? Yeah. Yeah. number two, qualifying. I know that this is not your take on this, but I know a lot of people hear that qualifying and they’re thinking, it comes off more like I’m going to see if you qualify to work with me. you know, and it can actually be a little off putting if not done.

    Blair Enns (08:35.377)

    Free advice, yeah.

    John Jantsch (08:56.91)

    How do you approach making sure that the client doesn’t feel like they’re being evaluated?

    Blair Enns (09:04.283)

    Yeah, I think some people do overplay that idea. So you can take this idea of qualifying and you can put on a spectrum. At one end, there’s the client qualifying you. At the other end, there’s you qualifying the client. And most of these qualifying conversations, the typical listener wouldn’t think of them as a qualifying conversation. They would think of them as a credentials conversation or a credentials meeting. So what does that mean if we put it back into this context of qualifying? It means you’re trying to qualify for the client.

    The assumption is this is a good fit for you. Now you’re trying to prove to them that they’re a good fit. And you have to do that and there’s a way to do that, but the conversation is all about you first making sure that they are a good fit for you. That implies that you’ve actually thought about who is a good fit for you. What is your ideal client profile? Who do you want to do business with? Who will you not do business with? How much money do you need somebody to spend? And so,

    John Jantsch (09:52.046)

    Yeah, yeah.

    Blair Enns (10:00.305)

    You can have a very business-like conversation using a framework to organize questions around that without coming across like an ass. But in the wrong hands, somebody can overplay that idea and they can make the client feel uncomfortable.

    John Jantsch (10:08.257)

    Yeah.

    John Jantsch (10:16.151)

    You know, one of the things over the years that I’ve liked to use as a qualifier is there are certain behaviors that the client has or what they believe in terms of what value is and how a solution gets done. And in some cases, we get very good or most people get very good at understanding, this is a problem I can fix well. I know I could do this one. So where does that come into the qualifying, those types of considerations?

    Blair Enns (10:43.239)

    Well, you have to guard against that. so qualifying is the vetting conversation. There’s a tone in the qualifying conversation. It’s a tone of discernment. So you’re professional, you’re clinical, you’re, if you’re getting really enthusiastic about the opportunity, you’re just suppressing that for the time being. And then once you ask your questions and you determine that there is, this is a good fit for you, then you move to the next conversation, the value conversation. You can, your tone of discernment can move to a tone of deep interest. You decide,

    John Jantsch (10:51.106)

    Yeah.

    Blair Enns (11:13.245)

    You ask your questions, you get your answers, and you decide, you know what, this is a good fit. And you would say to the client, on the surface, I think this is a really good fit. I can see my team getting very excited about this. I’m not saying I’m getting excited about it. I’m still trying to moderate my enthusiasm to make sure my enthusiasm for the project or the client does not exceed their enthusiasm for me.

    John Jantsch (11:23.374)

    Yeah.

    John Jantsch (11:36.347)

    Can we stick on that for a minute? Why is that an issue?

    Blair Enns (11:40.113)

    Well, I have in the book what I consider to be the first principle of selling expertise. It’s a formula P equals DB over D. I printed on the back of coffee mugs. P stands for your power in the sale. Your power in the sale is a function of your desirability, DB, being greater than your own desire, D. Otherwise stated, whoever wants it the most has the least power in the buy-sell relationship.

    You don’t extrapolate that to the nth degree and say, therefore, I should seek to maximize my desirability. That’s true. That part’s true. But you could also infer that to mean I should seek to minimize my expression of desire for the client. that, yeah, no. Yeah, you show up as aloof, disinterested. You don’t want that. I’m just saying pay attention to the power dynamics in the relationship and make sure, especially early on,

    John Jantsch (12:24.29)

    Yeah. Yeah. I don’t really, I don’t really need this sale. I take it or leave it. Right.

    Blair Enns (12:38.713)

    actually, throughout, there’s no especially early on, but just make sure that your own expression, allow your enthusiasm for the opportunity to rise as high as the clients and try not to exceed it. Because when you exceed it, you clearly give all your power away, your power to do your best work, to command the most profit, to command high prices. Your cost of sale will go up too as your power goes away.

    John Jantsch (13:06.604)

    Interesting. So let’s move to number three. guess it is. You use the phrase value to be created. Is that right? Value to be created. that. Yeah. But, but less about fees and more about the value to be created as part of the equation. So, so do I hear you saying, what we’re going to fix for this client is worth a million dollars. That’s the value it’s going to create for them. So do we base our fee on that? Or do we base our fee on the fact that we know how to do this and we do it

    Blair Enns (13:14.129)

    the value conversation.

    John Jantsch (13:36.28)

    officially.

    Blair Enns (13:37.277)

    So you can base your fee, I’m getting softer on this as the years go by. My previous book, which came out in 2018, is on pricing. It’s called Pricing Creativity. And I was probably a bit more of a hard, was pushing harder for value-based pricing. Today, I don’t really care how you price. I care if you have a value conversation. A value conversation begins the pricing discussion based on the value to be created. So you come to me or your…

    John Jantsch (13:55.694)

    Mm-hmm.

    Blair Enns (14:03.601)

    prospective client and I’m walking you through the simple four-step framework. What do you want John? You tell me what your vision of your desired future state is, what success looks like in the future. And I say this is a great vision. So now I’m leaning in, I’m enthusiastic. Okay, what are the metrics that will measure to prove that you’ve achieved what you want? And we talk about some KPIs, you give them to me or I pull them out of you. And I say to you, okay, I know what you want, I know what the KPIs are that we’ll measure.

    John Jantsch (14:17.304)

    Mm-hmm.

    Blair Enns (14:32.741)

    If we hit these metrics, what’s the value of that? So if we just keep it to economic value, you give me some numbers, we top line or revenue gains or cost reductions, we translate that into profit. And I say, all right, so if your vision comes true, you hit these metrics, we’re gonna create a million dollars a year and net new profit, is that right? And you say, yeah, that sounds about right if everything goes well. Now the fourth and final step is setting pricing guidance. At this point, I haven’t thought.

    about what I’m actually gonna do. I haven’t talked to you about specific solutions. Even if you may have come to me with a specific solution in mind, I put it aside and I’ve put you into your desired future state. And I’ve asked you to describe success. And obviously there’s a framework around this. And I say to you, if I could help you create this million dollars a year and that new recurring profit, would you pay me X? And in that moment, I’m gonna pull a number out of my nether regions. And I want the number to be so high that you won’t pay it, that you walk it down.

    And there’s some psychology, it’s called the anchoring effect and why I do this. But at some point, so if I say, would you pay me a half a million dollars? And you respond with, well, that depends, what would you do for a half a million dollars? I might say, I don’t know, I haven’t thought about solutions yet. But if I could help you create this million dollars in net new recurring profit, would you pay half a million in one time fees? And that’s.

    Whether you say yes or no, we’re in a conversation on pricing and that conversation has started high. The price is tied to the value to be created is not tied to my solutions. From there, the price can go down. At the end of the day, when I come back with a proposal in the closing conversation, I can price however I want. The important thing is we have started the pricing discussion based on the value to be created, not based on the cost of my solutions.

    John Jantsch (16:26.158)

    Yeah, and I think that’s certainly the path towards getting a prospect or a client to think, I’m investing this money as opposed to I’m spending this money, isn’t

    Blair Enns (16:36.551)

    Correct.

    John Jantsch (16:38.668)

    So let’s talk about the money conversation. I would say that, I mean, you talked to millions of salespeople probably over the years. Isn’t that the place that they have the most issue with?

    Blair Enns (16:51.325)

    I think the value conversation is a pivotal conversation because we are starting to, the client, we uncover a budget if there is one in the qualifying conversation, then we transcend that budget while still acknowledging as part of the framework that the client has a budget and agreeing that we’ll come back with a range of solutions and a range of price points. We basically agree on a trade.

    I’ll show you what I can do for your budget. You allow me to think creatively and expansively about what’s the most we can do to help you create this value. And it’s going to be a big price. So that’s, I love this framework for talking about money. It doesn’t make it easy, but when you understand that it’s okay for the first number to be so high that the client chokes on it or pushes back and you do this a few times, you realize everybody will survive.

    This is not an existential threat. This is just part of the conversation. By the time the conversation ends, you’re in agreement that the client will consider options in a certain range. Even if the client says, listen, I don’t have the authority to spend, let’s say I anchored at 500 and we ended up at 250 and then you said, well, my budget’s 50. So I’ve got a range of 50 to 250. Even if you don’t have the authority to spend 250 in that moment.

    I’ll extract from you an understanding that, okay, I’m gonna put some options in front of you that are gonna be beyond your budget. And if you’re really excited about them, it’s your prerogative. But then I would invite you to invite the other people to the table who would be required to fund this. you are always in, you the buyer, you’re always in control. You’ve stated to me that you have a budget. I’ve shown what I’m going to do for that budget. In exchange, you’re letting me push you to think bigger, to think about investing more.

    And that’s a pretty fair trade. You practice this a few times, it becomes fairly intuitive to you.

    John Jantsch (18:47.628)

    You know, it’s been come, see very commonplace. seems like the last few years for agencies to kind of offer package services. So this much deliverable for this price. it sounds to me, when I hear you say that conversation, you’re really getting completely out of that, mold and really the idea of, of, I’m going to actually bring you something really innovative that you hadn’t even thought about when you developed your budget. Automatically you’re providing leadership instead of just.

    execution, right?

    Blair Enns (19:18.845)

    That’s true, but it’s not antithetical to productizing your services either. So in my last two books, I’ve talked about productization and in pricing creativity, I was pretty strongly anti-productizing for agencies. When I wrote the four conversations, which I finished last year,

    John Jantsch (19:38.828)

    Mm-hmm.

    Blair Enns (19:46.969)

    I was pretty neutral on it. And I have a pretty good framework in the book for deciding, you standardize or customize your delivery model, package your services or customize and your pricing? What I mean by that is if you have packages, do you price the packages or do you price the client? And as time goes on, I’m actually increasingly in favor of product standardizing your delivery. So you have packages, but reserving the right to price the client, which is the first rule.

    of in my book, Pricing Creativity, price the client, not the product, not the service.

    John Jantsch (20:23.448)

    So I know from many conversations I’ve had this, know, anytime I say the same thing of you want to move from vendor to trusted advisor, you know, a lot of lights go on, right? It’s like, yes, that’s exactly what I want to do. So for the listeners who are stuck in that mindset right now, is there, is there a shift or a daily habit that you would recommend that might make, help people make that leap or at least make it stick?

    Blair Enns (20:47.285)

    it’s a great question. there is in the book, there’s I guess it’s a principle, but it’s really a framework for getting into the experts mindset. It’s called the experts mantra. And it’s a four line statement that you repeat to yourself before you log into the conversation, before you show up for the whether it’s done remotely or in person before you enter the conversation. Just four statements that you repeat yourself.

    They can benefit from a little customization, but I’ll give them to you here. I am the expert, I am the prize. I’m on a mission to help. I can only do that if you let me lead. All will not follow and that’s okay. And we can unpack each of those four sentences and they’re all rooted in something, but it’s like, I am the expert, I’m the prize to be won here. I’m on a mission to lead. If you don’t let me lead in the sale, you will not let me lead in the engagement. So this is a test of whether or not we can work together.

    Yeah, and then the last one of all will not follow is just letting go of the outcomes and focusing on the process.

    John Jantsch (21:48.781)

    Yes.

    John Jantsch (21:52.27)

    Yeah,

    Yeah, I love that. love that. Well, Blair, I appreciate you taking a few moments to stop by the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. Is there some place for you to invite people to find out more about your work and obviously your books or connect with you?

    Blair Enns (22:07.089)

    Yeah, thanks John, I’ve enjoyed it. They can reach me in all of my work at winwithoutpitching.com.

    John Jantsch (22:13.611)

    Again, I appreciate you taking a moment to stop by. Hopefully we’ll run into you one of these days out there on the road.

    Blair Enns (22:18.685)

    Thank you.

    powered by

  • James Bond: May Denis Villeneuve Bring Joy Back to 007

    James Bond: May Denis Villeneuve Bring Joy Back to 007

    Villeneuve, Denis Villeneuve, is the given brand. You probably already knew it well, whether it was for some of the gripping character studies from his early career, such as Prisoners, Sicario, and Enemy, or more likely because of Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and the new Dune movies ( Oscar nominees only ), but you didn’t until now. Yet even ]… ]

    The first article James Bond: May Denis Villeneuve Bring Joy Up to 007 was a Den of Geek blog.

    There may not be an answer, but there was a time before the net, before the movies, perhaps before Revenge of the Jedi was given the new name Return of the Jedi. There was a time when Star Wars was a relatively new phenomenon. And finally, one of the franchise’s biggest supporters, age 11, named Rusty Miller, made the decision to write the second Star Wars exam guide and made it happen.

    Matt ( née Rusty ) explained in a 2020 interview with Skywalking Through Neverland that” the inspiration for this book was the work of J. R. Tolkien, of which I was also a huge fan. And since there wasn’t a Star Wars trivia book, I spent the summer of 1981 coming up with around 600 issues. My parents sent a text to Del Rey, who in change sent it to Lucasfilm after finishing the book.

    cnx. command. push ( function ( ) {cnx ( {playerId:” 106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530″, }). render ( “0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796” ), }),

    Unsurprisingly, the book almost didn’t occur in 1982’s more innocent settings ( at least in terms of band-building ). There was no compelling reason for Lucasfilm to release the work of tweenage fans until George Lucas himself heard about the job and saved it from being canceled. The Jedi Master’s Quizbook debuted on the New York Times bestseller list soon after, and, according to its author, has sold more than a million files.

    The only copies of the Jedi Master&#8217, Quizbook that you’re likely to get in the thrift shop, your favorite second-hand website book store, or your neighborhood Companions of the Bank business will be in 2025, which is exactly how I got my own version. The dog-eared print has a lot of admiration and once belonged to a person whose name appears in the pages several times.

    For the first time in a long time as I scoured through it, I was blown away by Rusty &#8217’s broad Star Wars information as well as what the guide said about how persona, companies, the concept of cannon, and Star Wars itself have changed over the years. &nbsp,

    Issues like &#8220: Who did Bend fight at the Cantina? A wonderful illustration of how some things never change, is shown in the &#8221, and its response &#8220, Snaggletooth, and &#8221, the name of the figure that was packaged with the Kenner toys of the personality. Toys have always been a significant factor in determining and revealing cannon. Users, fans, and filmmakers are all dealing with that now, which is something they all still struggle with. The struggles to create art under socialism are the same, but the response to Rusty’s issue is unique. Snivvian man Zutton’s name has now become Snaggletooth. &nbsp,

    Rusty carefully researched what was available at the time, including Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Up, and any information he could get about the upcoming third movie, as well as the burgeoning Star Wars publishing activities. This was years before the computer. As many Star Wars fans are aware, Return of the Jedi was going to be called Revenge of the Jedi in another delightful time capsule. Because the title hadn’t yet been changed as a result of Lucas ‘ decision that Jedi can’t feel or seek revenge, that’s what Rusty put in his response. Before Revenge of the Sith, that word was saved for decades.

    The idea of the canon and even titling changing nature of canon and even titling is present throughout the book. It also serves as a reminder that, despite everything, some things never change, or at least they do so enough to return to their starting place.

    Marvel Comics was responsible for the well-known Star Wars comics when Miller collated the Jedi Master&#8217, s Quiz Book, a fact that Miller and others find to be true in 2025. However, I can tell you that hasn’t always been the case as someone who has witnessed almost four decades of Star Wars fandom. For instance, Dark Horse produced many of the most well-known and well-known Star Wars comics. However, as the tides change, so do publishing trends. The Star Wars comic book license was given back to Dark Horse after Lucasfilm’s sale to Disney, but it is currently being shared by both publishers.

    Although it’s an unwritten rule, the only requirement for making a Star Wars project is to write a story by committee, with decades of canon and continuity to contend with in 2025. In contrast, Quiz Book Miller appeared almost to be the only person in the Star Wars canon in The Jedi Master&#8217, something that most fans would never hope to achieve. His dedication and commitment to a galaxy far, far away meant that many young children also had the opportunity to open up this book and keep track of the details and canon contained within it. Rusty Miller became one of the earliest in a long tradition of fans to take canon, sort it, and define it with his own hands in a time before Wikipedia and the internet in general. &nbsp,

    One of Miller &#8217’s most enjoyable aspects is that you can learn new details or details about the film that fit into your own personal Star Wars canon. For example in Rusty &#8217, s quiz book the answer to &#8220, What is Artoo&#8217, s robot classification? As that &#8217 is what he was called in the novelization of the movie, “is” Thermocapsulary dehousing assister, &#8221, as that &#8217, is. That sluggish classification would soon be completely replaced by Astromech, at least until the “full” title was mentioned in the 2015 Star Wars comics. What canon and what would later be relegated to the non-canon world of Legends are also fascinating to learn. &nbsp,

    Although Jedi Master&#8217, the Quiz Book, is regarded as a significant addition to canon right now, the world of Star Wars was rapidly expanding and the lore was beginning to develop. The expanded Star Wars universe had truly begun thanks to the early interactions between the movies and the novelizations, such as the would-be-sequel story Splinter of the Mind&#8217, Alan Dean Foster’s Eye, and Marvel Comics. Which would hilariously immediately lead to canonical misunderstandings, such as the fact that X-Wing pilot Porkins was given the callsign Blue 4 when he was Red 6 in the movie. He wasn’t the only one either; Wedge Antilles was given the name” Blue 2!” &nbsp,

    The one thing that remains constant is that fans have always been the keepers of these franchises and their facts in a world where we couldn’t be further from the circumstances that led to the creation of the Jedi Masters Quiz Book. It&#8217, is that enthusiasm and enthusiasm that still piques fans ‘ wiki pages and fills convention centers year round. Rusty Miller, thank you for being our fandom bearer! &nbsp,

    Den of Geek‘s first post shows Just How Much the Star Wars Franchise Has Changed.