Category: Entertainment News

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Digger Review: Tom Cruise’s Wild New Comedy Arrives Oct 2

Tomorrow, October 2, Tom Cruise stops running. He starts digging.

Digger, Alejandro G. Inarritu’s satirical black comedy for Warner Bros., opens in theaters and IMAX this Friday, and it might be the strangest big swing a major studio has taken in years. Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, described as the most powerful man in the world: an aging oil tycoon who sets off on a frantic mission to prove he can save humanity from the very disaster his drilling unleashed. The tagline says it all. A comedy of catastrophic proportions.

If that sounds like a lot, good. It is supposed to.

The setup

The film is a Legendary Pictures production, directed by Inarritu from a screenplay he wrote with Oscar winners Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolas Giacobone, his Birdman collaborators, plus Sabina Berman. The story is credited to Berman, Inarritu and Jez Butterworth. It runs 129 minutes, cost somewhere between $160 and $180 million, and was shot entirely in VistaVision, the wide, lush format Inarritu favors.

The premise reads like a dare. The richest man alive breaks the planet, then demands credit for trying to fix it. Around him orbits an ensemble that most directors would trade a kidney for: Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Huller, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons, with Emma D’Arcy, Sophie Wilde, Robert John Burke and Burn Gorman in support. Behind the camera, the cavalry is just as stacked: cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, editors Stephen Mirrione and Conor O’Neill, production designer Dennis Gassner, composer Cosmo Sheldrake. Count the Oscars in that paragraph and you will run out of fingers.

Why this one is fascinating

This is Cruise’s first film under the Warner Bros. deal he signed in January 2026, and his first real collaboration with the studio since Edge of Tomorrow more than a decade ago. It is also Inarritu’s first English-language feature since The Revenant. Two heavyweights, both overdue for a new chapter, choosing to make a wild comedy about an oil baron trying to outrun his own mess. Nobody saw this coming, which is exactly the point.

Inarritu has described the shoot as joyful chaos. At Cannes he called it “insane” and said Cruise made him laugh every day, praising a comic range he had never seen from the star. A poster designed by artist Ed Ruscha was recently celebrated at LACMA. The studio is treating this like an event, not a release.

Early reactions are genuinely divided, and Warner Bros. is leaning into it. A new ad runs contradictory pull quotes side by side: masterpiece next to unpleasant, brilliant next to baffling, tied together with the line “Same film, different truth.” You can read that as marketing spin or as honesty. Either way, it takes confidence to sell a movie this way.

A comedy built like an epic

The craft here deserves its own paragraph. Inarritu shot the film over six months in the United Kingdom, entirely in VistaVision, a format that gives the image a depth and grain modern digital rarely manages. Lubezki’s involvement alone guarantees it will look like nothing else in the multiplex this fall. Even the marketing has an art-house streak: the key poster was designed by renowned American artist Ed Ruscha and was recently celebrated at LACMA, which is not a sentence you usually write about a Tom Cruise vehicle.

Cruise himself looks unrecognizable in the materials released so far: paunchy, weathered, clutching a decrepit cat on the poster. For a star whose brand is control, letting himself look this undone is the boldest special effect in the movie.

Should you go?

Here is the case for yes. Studios do not make $170 million original comedies anymore. They make sequels, and prequels, and sequels to prequels. When one of the last true movie stars and one of the great living directors decide to spend that kind of money on something nobody asked for, the only correct response is curiosity. The worst version of this movie is still more interesting than the safest franchise entry of the year.

See it big if you can. Lubezki shooting VistaVision is reason enough, and whatever you think of the satire, you will not be bored. Cruise, famously, does not do bored.

Make a day of it. Grab one of NYC’s best breakfast sandwiches before the show, then argue about the ending over hot chicken after. Digger opens October 2 in theaters and IMAX. Go decide for yourself.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Treasure Island: Ridley Scott’s 2027 Pirate Epic Preview

Some release dates are routine calendar housekeeping. Then Sony drops Ridley Scott and Hugh Jackman on a pirate movie and suddenly the whole industry is paying attention. This week the studio confirmed that its new take on Treasure Island will hit theaters on November 11, 2027, anchoring a late-year one-two punch alongside the newly dated 24 Jump Street.

It is the newest major announcement on the board, and frankly the most interesting one. Scott, at 88, keeps choosing projects like a man with half his career ahead of him. Jackman keeps picking roles that dare people to underestimate him. Put them together on Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel and you get the kind of old-school movie event that doesn’t come around often anymore.

What Sony actually confirmed

The details that are locked in: Scott directs and produces. Jackman leads the cast. The screenplay comes from Jack Thorne, who co-created Netflix’s acclaimed Adolescence and wrote the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The cast also includes Hugh Grant and Adolescence breakout Owen Cooper, whose roles have not been specified yet.

The story is the one every schoolkid knows. A young boy finds a map to a legendary buried treasure, sets out on a perilous sea voyage, and ends up locked in a battle of wits with the charismatic, treacherous Long John Silver. Different outlets disagree on exactly which pirate Jackman is playing, with some naming Silver and others Blackbeard, so we will wait for Sony’s official word on that. What is certain is that this is a serious, grown-up treatment. Forget the felt pirates. The Muppets had their turn.

Why this pairing matters

Scott does not make small pictures, and he does not make them for long. His filmography is a wall of epics: Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Napoleon. He shoots fast, he builds worlds you can smell, and he has a particular gift for making history feel like it is happening right now, with dirt under its fingernails.

Jackman, for his part, has spent the back half of his career proving range is not a rumor. Wolverine made him a star; The Greatest Showman made him a song-and-dance man; Logan made him an actor critics had to take seriously. A pirate role under Scott’s direction gives him a stage big enough for all of it. He has played a pirate before, in 2015’s Pan, but that was a cartoon villain in a cartoon movie. This sounds like something else entirely.

And then there is Thorne. Hiring the man who wrote Adolescence, one of the most talked-about television events of 2025, tells you Sony wants this to be a character piece with a pulse, not a theme-park ride with sails. The best pirate stories were always about greed and loyalty wearing costumes. Thorne knows how to write that.

The pirate competition

Here is the wrinkle. Scott’s Treasure Island will not be the only version in town. A six-part series starring Hayley Atwell, with David Oyelowo as Long John Silver, is headed to streaming this October via MGM+ and Paramount+. That puts more than a year between the two adaptations, and honestly, the contrast could help both. Television does the slow burn. Scott does the spectacle. Audiences who binge the series in October will be primed for the big screen version in November 2027.

It is also worth noting the calendar company Sony is keeping. 24 Jump Street lands December 10, 2027, with Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube reportedly returning and Rodney Rothman directing. Two wildly different films, one month apart: pirate epic, then self-aware comedy sequel. That is a studio with confidence.

The bottom line

We are more than a year out, and plenty can change. Productions shift, dates move, casts evolve. But the bones of this are strong: a master director, a star at the height of his powers, a writer with genuine literary chops, and one of the great adventure stories ever written. If you only follow one 2027 release date, make it this one.

Until November 2027, there are plenty of adventures closer to home. This week’s lineup of books, jazz, salsa and night markets will keep any explorer busy, and the city’s 2026 holiday tree and lights celebrations are already on the calendar. Yo ho ho, indeed.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: 20 Haunted Houses In and Around NYC to Brave This Halloween

Spooky season is officially here, and New York doesn’t do Halloween halfway. From massive professional scare attractions to elaborate home haunts tucked away in quiet neighborhoods, the five boroughs and beyond are stacked with places built to make you scream — the good kind.

Some of these are full walkthroughs with live actors, animatronics and jump scares. Others are residential home haunts that neighbors spend all year perfecting. Either way, here’s where to get your fix this October.

Manhattan: Blood Manor

Blood Manor is the name that comes up every year in conversations about NYC’s scariest walkthroughs, and this season is no different. This Manhattan haunt is one of the city’s best-known professional scare attractions, packed with live actors and detailed sets. If you only brave one haunted house this year, plenty of locals would point you here.

Brooklyn: Ridgewood Asylum

Over in Brooklyn, Ridgewood Asylum delivers the full asylum-horror experience — dark corridors, live performers and the kind of jump scares that stick with you on the subway ride home. It has a loyal following among Brooklyn horror fans who go back year after year.

Queens: A Haunting in Hollis

Queens gets its frights from A Haunting in Hollis, a homegrown haunt that has become a neighborhood staple. It’s the kind of place that reminds you the scariest experiences sometimes live on a regular residential block.

The Bronx: Fright on Flint

The Bronx brings Fright on Flint to the lineup. Home haunts like this one are the heart of NYC Halloween — built by hand, run with love (and a love of scaring people), and every bit as intense as the big-ticket attractions.

Staten Island: Twisted Trails

Staten Island’s Twisted Trails takes the scares outdoors, where the darkness does half the work. Add in the borough’s legendary home haunts — Staten Island has some of the most over-the-top residential displays in the city — and you’ve got a full night of frights on one island.

Long Island: Bayville Scream Park

Just past the city line, Bayville Scream Park goes big: a full scream park experience with multiple attractions, live actors and the works. It’s worth the trip if you want a whole evening built around getting scared.

New Jersey: Brighton Asylum

Across the Hudson, Brighton Asylum rounds out the list for anyone willing to cross state lines for their frights. New Jersey’s haunt scene punches well above its weight, and this one is a favorite.

Don’t Sleep on the Home Haunts

Beyond the big names, there are wild home haunts scattered across Staten Island, Queens and Long Island — elaborate residential setups that rival professional productions. Part of the fun is discovering them: follow local haunt maps and community pages, and plan a drive-by night to see how far your neighbors are willing to go.

Whether you’re into professional scare mazes or grassroots garage haunts, this is the month to get out there. Bring a friend — you’ll want someone to grab onto. And if you’re planning a full fall itinerary, save the dates for NYC’s 2026 holiday tree and lights celebrations coming right after spooky season, or check what else is happening around the city this week.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Counting the Days Until the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular Lights Up Radio City Again

It is only October, but I am already counting the days. Every year it is the same with me: the minute the calendar flips toward the holidays, my thoughts drift to Radio City Music Hall and the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Some people have a favorite song or a favorite recipe. Mine is a show.

What gets me is how personal something so enormous can feel. The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular fills one of the most famous theaters in the world, and it has been running long enough to become part of New York’s own mythology. Yet sitting in that audience, you don’t feel like a tourist in a production. You feel like you have been invited into something familiar. The lights go down, the music starts, and suddenly you are a kid again waiting for Christmas morning.

The Rockettes themselves are the reason. Their dancing is precise in a way that almost stops your breath. Every kick, every turn, every formation lands exactly where it should, and the famous kicklines are more than a trick. They are proof of what happens when people move with one shared purpose: thirty-plus dancers, one rhythm, one heartbeat. You can see the hours of practice in every second of it, and that makes it more moving, not less.

For me the show is tied to family. My parents gave me Christmas as a feeling, not just a date on the calendar. Decorating the house, opening gifts, sitting around a table that was somehow never big enough for everyone: those are the memories I carry. My grandmothers added another layer, the older stories, the recipes, the small rituals that tell you who you are and where you come from. Watching the Rockettes, I think of them. A tradition gets its power from the people you share it with, and this one has been shared by generations of mine.

That is the quiet magic of the Christmas Spectacular: it works for everyone in the room at once. Children love the color and the movement. Parents appreciate the music and the craftsmanship. Grandparents see a tradition that has kept its elegance across the decades. Finding one evening that delights an eight-year-old and an eighty-year-old at the same time is rare. This show does it.

Radio City helps. Walking into that theater feels like stepping inside Christmas itself: the scale, the detail, the sense that someone built this place just for celebration. The costumes sparkle, the scenes turn over with energy, and the music wraps around the whole room. Some moments are playful, some are graceful, some are almost still. Together they build something you carry home with you.

In a time when most entertainment happens on a screen, I think that is worth protecting. Live performance asks you to be present, and presence is the whole point of the holidays. The best Christmas traditions were never complicated. They were simple things, repeated with love, year after year.

So yes, I am counting the days until the Rockettes are back at Radio City Music Hall. Not just for the dancing, though the dancing is beautiful. I am counting down to the feeling: family, memory, gratitude, and the bright certainty that some things stay joyful no matter how much the world changes.

Originally published on Times Square Chronicles.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: 16 of the Best Spicy Tofu Spots in NYC for Heat Lovers

If you think tofu is bland, you haven’t had it the New York way. This city’s spicy tofu game runs deep — from Korean kitchens ladling out bubbling soondubu jjigae to Sichuan spots where the mapo tofu hits with that signature numbing heat. Here are eight standouts worth putting on your list first.

Where the heat is

Mountain House in the East Village and Spicy Moon, also in the East Village, both lean into the spice-forward side of the menu. Over in Koreatown, Cho Dang Gol and BCD Tofu House are the go-to names for Korean-style tofu stews done properly — the kind that arrive still bubbling in the stone pot.

For Sichuan heat, Chuan Tian Xia in Sunset Park brings the fiery, numbing peppercorn kick, while Café China in Midtown pairs old-school décor with a serious mapo tofu. Hupo in Long Island City and Antidote in Williamsburg round out the list for the Brooklyn and Queens crowds.

Soondubu or mapo? Why not both

Soondubu jjigae is the comfort pick — silky soft tofu in a spicy broth, usually with seafood or pork, served screaming hot. Mapo tofu is the bolder one: cubes of tofu in a chili-and-Sichuan-peppercorn sauce that builds as you eat. New York does both well, which is half the fun of working through a list like this.

Planning a full day out? Pair your tofu crawl with 20 fun things to do in NYC today, from salsa socials to outdoor movies. And if you’re in the mood for a film after dinner, DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island is the warm family pick of the season.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: 10 of the Best Burritos in NYC, From the Bronx to Rockaway Beach

New York’s burrito scene doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Between the California-style monsters loaded with fries, proper Mission-style wraps, and spots rolling everything by hand in fresh flour tortillas, there’s a serious burrito within reach no matter which borough you’re in. Here are ten worth saving for your next craving.

The borough-by-borough hit list

Electric Burrito (East Village) and Son del North (Lower East Side) cover Manhattan’s downtown core, while Summer Salt in Flatiron holds it down further uptown. Brooklyn is stacked: Los Burritos Juárez in Fort Greene, Vato in Park Slope, B’KLYN BURRO in Clinton Hill, and two Bushwick favorites, La Abuelita and Plaza Ortega.

Don’t skip the outer boroughs. Taqueria Tlaxcalli reps the Bronx, and Super Burrito out in Rockaway Beach is the one to hit when the weather’s good and you want your burrito with an ocean view.

California vs. Mission: know your styles

The California-style burrito is the maximalist — carne asada, fries, cheese, guacamole, all of it. The Mission style is the San Francisco classic: rice, beans, meat, salsa, neatly wrapped and built to be eaten with two hands and full commitment. New York does respectable versions of both, plus plenty of hybrids that don’t care about the rules.

Make it a full outing with 20 fun things to do in NYC today — grab a burrito, then catch a salsa social or an outdoor movie. Film fans can check our review of DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island for an evening pick.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: What to Do in NYC This Week: Books, Jazz, Salsa and Night Markets

The week ahead in New York is packed, weather permitting. From big-ticket festivals to late-night dance floors, here’s what’s on around the city from September 27th through October 3rd.

Festivals and markets

The Brooklyn Book Festival is the week’s headline for readers — panels, signings, and booksellers taking over the borough. Food lovers get the Queens Night Market, and the FAD Market Fall Pop-Up is back for design and craft browsing. The GreenThumb Harvest Fair celebrates the city’s community gardens, and art fans should catch the DUMBO Projection Walk lighting up the waterfront after dark.

Music, comedy and nightlife

There’s outdoor jazz and live music on the calendar, plus salsa and dance parties for anyone who’d rather move. Comedy fans have local comedy nights and open mics to choose from, and the Dirty Circus at House of Yes promises the kind of night only Brooklyn can pull off. Late-night parties round out the week for the night owls.

A note on the weather

Sunday’s picks lean indoor on purpose — storm-safe options for a gray day. Outdoor plans later in the week are still on the schedule, but it’s worth double-checking conditions before heading out.

For day-by-day ideas, see 20 fun things to do in NYC today. And if you’d rather spend an evening at the movies, Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil is the horror hit everyone’s talking about.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Save the Dates: NYC’s 2026 Holiday Tree and Lights Celebrations

It’s never too early to plan for the holidays in New York. Neighborhood tree lightings are one of the city’s best traditions — free, festive, and a good excuse to get outside with hot cocoa in hand. Here are the 2026 dates to save, from Harlem to Staten Island.

The lighting calendar

November 17th — Harlem Holiday Lights. Harlem kicks things off, lighting up the neighborhood for the season.

December 3rd — DUMBO Holiday Tree Lighting. Brooklyn’s waterfront celebration under the bridge.

December 4th — Fort Greene Tree Lighting and Historic Richmond Town Tree Lighting on Staten Island — pick your borough.

December 5th is the big one, with three celebrations: the Bronx Little Italy Tree Lighting, Holiday on the Hudson, and the Queens County Farm Tree Lighting — yes, an actual farm in Queens.

December 12th — Riverbank Holiday Skating + Tree Lighting. Ice skating and a tree lighting in one night — hard to beat that combo.

What to expect

These aren’t just a switch being flipped. Expect caroling, live music, visits from Santa, neighborhood vendors, and plenty of lights. Most are free and family-friendly, which makes them some of the best-value nights out of the whole holiday season.

Planning your season? Start with what’s happening in NYC today to fill the weeks between now and the lightings. And for a cozy night in once the cold sets in, DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island is our family film pick.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: NYC’s Best Breakfast Sandwiches Go Way Beyond the Basic BEC

The bacon-egg-and-cheese will always have a home in New York. But the city’s breakfast sandwich scene has moved way past the basics — think scallion pancake wraps, bulgogi-loaded bagels, and hash browns stuffed inside the sandwich instead of on the side. Here’s what’s worth trying.

The new classics

The scallion pancake BEC swaps the roll for a flaky, griddled scallion pancake — crispy edges, chewy middle, and it holds up to the egg and cheese beautifully. Bulgogi and kimchi bagels bring Korean barbecue flavors to the morning bagel, sweet-savory beef with the funk of kimchi cutting through the richness.

Then there’s the pastrami, egg and cheese, which takes the deli’s greatest hit and puts it on breakfast duty. Hash brown egg sandos do exactly what the name promises — a whole crispy hash brown inside the sandwich for crunch in every bite. And malawach breakfast wraps use the flaky Yemenite flatbread as the wrapper, which might be the best vehicle of the bunch.

Spots on the radar

Worth checking out: @betweenthebagelny, @frankelsdeli, @courtstgrocers and @hanisbakerynyc — all tagged by local food hunters as places pushing the breakfast sandwich forward.

Fuel up, then see 20 fun things to do in NYC today for where to spend the rest of your morning. Working up a bigger appetite? Our Forgotten Island review makes the case for a matinee after brunch.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: 10 Hot Chicken Spots to Try in NYC

Hot chicken has fully taken over New York. What started as a Nashville specialty now comes with Sichuan peppercorn twists, Pakistani and Indian-inspired spins, and heat levels that separate the curious from the committed. Here are ten spots to put on your spicy food crawl.

The heat map

Pecking House and Peaches HotHouse are the names that come up first — both with serious followings. Rowdy Rooster and Birdies Hot Chicken keep the Nashville style front and center, while Namkeen and Koji Chicken bring South Asian and Korean influences to the format.

For the chains-done-right crowd, Dave’s Hot Chicken and Hangry Joe’s both have NYC outposts, and Fluffies Hot Chicken plus 375° Chicken ‘n Fries round out a list that covers just about every corner of the city’s heat spectrum.

How to order

Start one level below what you think you can handle — Nashville-style heat builds, and the places that do it right don’t mess around. Pickles and white bread (or slaw) aren’t garnish; they’re the cooling system. And keep something cold to drink within arm’s reach.

Cool down after with 20 fun things to do in NYC today — an outdoor movie or a jazz set pairs well with a scorched palate. Or catch Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil if you want your evening as intense as your lunch.