Latest news with #wildwest
The Guardian
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Diamonds and Dust review – Dita Von Teese and Faye Tozer's saddle-sore wild west burlesque
Somewhere in the noughties, Dita Von Teese was just about the most glamorous woman on earth, curled up in a giant martini glass, trailing feathers and jewels, a throwback to 40s and 50s glamour; Bettie Page with a great sense of spectacle and a knowing wink. Her latest show, Diamonds and Dust, feels like it could have been made back then, in that this wild west-themed floor show comes without much of the innovation, subversion, irony and identity politics that have happened on the burlesque scene in between, including in Von Teese's own work. The show is actually led by Faye Tozer from Steps. She's a likable front woman, playing saloon owner Kitty LeRoy, her story of hardscrabble life and multiple husbands interspersed with acts combining burlesque, circus and dance. It's gorgeous girls draped in pearls and lacy layers (teasingly removed), with a bit of lasso brandishing, a cowboy swinging from a chandelier (Magic Mike vibes) and Tosca Rivola proving herself talented on the cyr wheel. But the overall effect? I think the word is basic. Pretty young women taking off their clothes in not-that-interesting ways. Von Teese's whole appeal is retro, and her obsession with period glamour is taken to deliciously detailed levels, but there's retro and there's retrograde. Or is that the point, that it's a throwback? There's something Tarantinoesque about the setting, a fetishisation of American pop culture and iconography. But I also couldn't help thinking of the return to stereotypical femininity seen in tradwives and Maga women in push-up bras. The real point of it all, of course, is Von Teese herself (beware, she's not performing in every show). She appears at the end of each half, a vivid, otherworldly presence smothered in diamante, with sparkling red lips and tiny corseted waist. At 52 she's the absolute doyenne and holds the stage with regal charisma. Whether in statuesque pose or exultantly riding a contraption that's a cross between a bucking bronco and a pink velvet Chesterfield, she's untouchable, and therein lies the appeal. There is no doubt she's worth seeing, and it's important to say this could be a perfectly fun night out, but artistically, it feels like a step backwards. At Emerald theatre, London, until 28 September
CNET
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Red Dead Redemption 2's Strange Tales of the West Update Brings Cryptids to Multiplayer
Pack your silver bullets and keep your head on a swivel. There's a bad moon rising over the wild west in Red Dead Online, as four new cryptid-themed missions just released in the game. You'll have to take on these quests on behalf of author Theodore Levin, who is investigating outlandish claims from around the country. Strange cases of fearsome monsters, cults and viral outbreaks are exactly the type of pulpy content that could inspire a good story. The first new telegram mission, Strange Tales of Modern Science, sees players contending with killer robots. But these aren't exactly Terminators. You'll be fighting off a tiny tinman army as it stalks the grounds of the Braithwaite Manor. Another mission, Strange Tales of the Bayou, will have you contending with both human and non-human threats as you wade through Lagras. The Swamp Folk like to ambush hunters who enter their territory -- but it's up to you to bring back the creature from the deep so that Levin can see it for himself. The Strange Tales of the Wilderness mission is the closest thing to a standard bounty hunt included in the new update. You'll need to hunt down a gang of murdering bandits in Tall Trees, but rumor has it that a missing scientist might just be experimenting on your foes. Brave the wilderness to take on an evolving manmade threat and bring the gang to justice. The final mission in the latest batch of content, Strange Tales of the Plague, is an ode to fan-favorite spinoff Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare. A mysterious infection is spreading through Armadillo, and the dead are rising yet again. It's up to you and your friends to put down the shambling horde and bring back their bodies for scientific examination. The new Red Dead Online update might be the closest thing we'll get to an Undead Nightmare sequel. Rockstar Games/Screenshot by CNET If you want to take on these new missions, you'll need to pick up a letter Levin left for you at the nearest in-game post office or your camp's mailbox. Afterwards, these cryptid challenges will become repeatable telegram missions. To celebrate the launch of the Strange Tales of the West update, all telegram missions (including the new batch of pulp fiction content) will have their rewards boosted until Aug. 4. You'll be able to earn three times as much gold, Red Dead dollars and experience points during this time. Red Dead Online's Strange Tales of the West update is available for free now on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. Get ready to lock and load to take down the new telegram missions next time you log in. This update is a rare treat for Red Dead Redemption 2 fans, as the game's online mode has been largely neglected in recent years. The previous patch from March 2024 squashed some bugs -- and the last update that added any amount of playable content came out in September 2022. The content drought was so extreme that it spawned a movement with the stated goal of saving Red Dead Online. The petition currently has more than 10,000 signatures. The Strange Tales of the West update is being marketed as volume one of a broader update, which implies that even more pulp fiction content could be coming down the pipeline for the Red Dead Redemption 2 multiplayer mode sometime soon. The wild west is about to get a whole lot weirder.
