Looking to settle in with a good movie? Me too. That's why I've pored over release schedules to bring you the best original and new-to-streaming movies you can watch on Netflix, Prime, Max, Hulu, and other streaming platforms. The can't-miss-it movies of the week are director Zack Snyder's new edits of his Rebel Moon movies. Adding an extra hour or two to a feature film completely changes its meaning, so this is a good excuse to revisit these two epic science fiction flick. Another suggestion: a Superman film festival. Prime is offering all the Christopher Reeve's Superman movies as well as the 2006 re-boot. Rebel Moon Directors Cuts If you can't get enough of Zach Snyders' Rebel Moon movies, the director's cuts might finally slake your endless thirst for Snyder-y space opera. The combined runtime of Rebel Moon Part One: Directors Cut and Rebel Moon Part Two: Directors Cut is six hours and 17 minutesthat's almost two hours of added footage. Expect extra violence, extra sex, and extra-Snyder with these R-rated new edits of the sci-fi epics.Where to stream: NetflixSaving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie Spongebob Squarepants is an American institution, the pop culture hero we both deserve and need. In this full-length original feature, everyone in Bikini Botton is scooped out of the ocean onto dry land, leaving Spongebob and Sandy Cheeks to travel to Texas to put things to right. Saving Bikini Bottom is the kind of kids' movie that everyone likes, so gather the fam.Where to stream: NetflixElizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes In 1964, actress Elizabeth Taylor recorded over 40 hours of interviews; this HBO original documentary dug 'em up and is playing The Lost Tapes for the first time. These intimate recording go deep into the vagaries and contradictions of stardom and the forces that influenced Taylor's complicated life as an actress, an activist, and the most beautiful woman in the world. Where to stream: MaxSuperman 1, 2, 3, 4 and Superman Returns If a new Batman series isn't enough super-heroics for you, in August, Prime is offering the original four Christopher Reeves Superman movies as well as the 2006 series reboot Superman Returns. This is the perfect opportunity to grab some super-popcorn, sit on your super-couch and have an old fashioned super-film festival.Where to stream: Prime VideoImitation of Life (1959) Featuring both Lana Turner and Mahalia Jackson, Douglas Sirk's study of the lifelong friendship between a white woman and a black woman is a fearless (for 1959) examination of race, class, alienation, gender and more, told through lush visuals and Sirk's patented ironic-melodrama style. If you haven't seen it, you really should watch Imitation of Life; they really don't make movies like this anymore.Where to stream: Prime VideoLast week's picksMission: Impossible Dead Reckoning (2023) In case you haven't heard of him, Tom Cruise is a national treasure and the worlds greatest movie star who does his own stunts even though hes 112 years old. In Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning, Cruise turns his charisma up to 15 million gigawatts in his recurring role of Ethan Hunt, agent of the Impossible Mission Force. The plot has something to do with an evil mastermind trying to take over the world with artificial intelligence or something, but it really doesnt matter. Mission Impossible movies live or die based on the quality and quantity of their over-the-top action set-pieces, and Dead Reckoning over-delivers. It takes action to such ludicrous, even critics like itthe movie has a 96% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.Where to stream: Prime VideoContinental Split Many know and love Tubi for its price ("free") and massive stinkpile of movies and shows no one asked for. But did you know there are Tubi originals? Like Continental Split, a disaster movie with a massive premisea fault-line literally splits the United States in twobut a minuscule budget with which to realize it. But against all odds, Continental Split is actually kind of good. The effects are laughably cheesy (but in a fun way), the acting is decent, and there's even a stab at metaphorically connecting the physical split in the earth to political and social fault lines in our culture. If you like goofy disaster movies and you don't care about the effects looking "real" or whatever, this is the movie for you. Also good If you're too broke for Netflix.Where to stream: TubiKnox Goes Away(2024) If you saw Michael Keaton in 1983's Mr. Mom, you probably didn't imagine that its seemingly lightweight star would still be active in the 21st century and his thing would be making complex, dark films like Knox Goes Away. Keaton directed and stars as the title character, a hitman who's stricken with dementia, trying to help his estranged son who's committed a murder. So it's weird, intriguing, and not quite like any other movie.Where to stream: MaxCirque du Soleil: Without a Net Cirque du Soleil, the circus that costs $100 to visit, had a rough time during the pandemic lockdownits a cool show and all, but is cool acrobatics worth contracting Covid? Without a Net documents the struggles of Cirque's crew and performers as they dust off the trapeze and harnesses and work toward a post-vaccine grand re-opening in Las Vegas. With that famous the-show-must-go-on ethic driving it, the worlds most high-class circus journeys back from the brink in an inspiring story.Where to stream: HuluAbigail (2024) I don't know why, but we find ballerinas scary, and horror movies about ballerinas tend to be awesome. There's 2010's Black Swan, Suspiria (both the 1977 and 2018 versions), 1949's The Red Shoes, and now Abigail, a moody horror flick about a little undead girl who loves sucking blood as much as she loves arabesques and jets. While it's inferior to the ballet-core classics listed above, it's still got an 82% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is totally worth the watch. Where to stream: Peacock

I used to hate cooking steak at home for one big reason: the smoke. I rent an apartment in Brooklyn, which means I have to deal with a close and sensitive smoke alarm. But even without the threat of a piercing siren, steak was always one of those sometimes foods that ended up being more of a mess than I care to clean up. That is, until the concept of reverse searing entered my life, and changed everything. Now I can make myself a perfect steak, and you can too.What is reverse searing?Searing is the classic way to prepare a steak: simply pop it in a screaming hot pan and sear it until its done. Reverse searing is the catchy phrase for first cooking a steak low and slow in a conventional oven, only tossing it in a hot pan for a few minutes afterward to get some nice color on the outside. The steak effectively cooks almost completely in the oven; you pan-sear it simply for the glorious browning and flavor the process brings.A restaurant kitchen has industrial fans and grease traps, and getting a meal prepared in minutes is the priority. Thats an appropriate place to cook a steak quickly in a pan. But at home, there are complicationsspecifically, scorching, especially for newcomers learning to cook steak at home. Scorching the fats and meat is what causes smoke to fill your kitchen. And although mostly aesthetic, searing a steak over high heat will cook the protein fibers on the outside much more rapidly, shrinking the outer layer and causing the middle to bulge, and that warping of the meat makes it hard to get an even sear. Searing is primarily to add flavor, so an uneven sear actually minimizes flavor.Why reverse searing totally rulesReverse searing cooks the meat gently, at around 250F, and slowly, for 20 to 50 minutes, depending on how you like your steak (and a few variables I will discuss later). Slow cooking allows the meat to warm up and heat through more evenly, keeping its shape nice and flat. The best part, if you ask me? No smoke. There is no opportunity for scorching when using this cooking technique. Well, not yet anyway. (You do sear it briefly at the end, but its for no where near as long.) Moreover, its lower stress: Cooking this way allows you to do other things in the kitchen while the steak cooks away in the oven, and you can use a probe thermometer every 10 minutes or so to see how its coming along. If you have a terrible habit of overcooking your steak, this method nearly guarantees you wont overcook it.The right way to reverse sear a steak1. Preheat your ovenSet your oven to 250F. Place a wire rack over a sheet pan. There wont be much that drips off the steak, but elevating the meat allows the warm air to flow around all sides. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 2. Set your target temp and bake the steakThoroughly season your steak and place it on the wire rack. Youre aiming for an internal temperature 10 to 15 degrees below the target finished temperature. Consider that the steak will sear in a hot pan, and also experience carry-over cooking.I like my steak somewhere between medium-rare and medium, so if you check this steak temperature chart from Omaha Steaks, medium doneness is 140F. I subtracted 15 degrees, and aimed for 125F -ish. It took me 45 minutes to get to 122F, with two temperature tests after the first 25 minutes. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann There are variables to keep in mind. How thick is your steak? Was it fridge-cold or room temperature? My ribeye was one-and-a-half inches thick, and still chilly from the fridge. After 25 minutes, it had just reached the internal temperature fit for a rare steak, about 102F. My advice is to keep in mind the thickness of your steak and check on it after 10 minutes for a thin steak (around an inch thick), and after 20 or 25 minutes for a thicker one (an inch and a half or more). Once you have an initial reading, you can adjust the cooking time from there.3. Sear in a hot panOnce your target internal temperature has been reached, remove the steak from the oven. Heat a frying pan on medium heat until its very hot, which usually takes a few minutes. Sear the steak on all sides, for about one minute per side. Let the steak rest for at least five minutes before slicing. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann If its your first time reverse searing, you might be dismayed by how ugly and gray your steak looks out of the oven. Hang in there. Once you sear it, youll understand what its all about. Reverse seared steak has great flavor and looks beautiful. Although you miss out on some nice pan drippings, to me the benefits outweigh the missing fond. So say goodbye to scorching, and hello to a more relaxing, better steak experience.

If youre looking for the Wordle answer for August 2, 2024 read on. Well share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Todays puzzle is harder; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for August 2, Wordle #1,140! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to todays Wordle game.How to play WordleWordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if theyre correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isnt in the days secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)Ready for the hints? Lets go!Does todays Wordle have any unusual letters?Well define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it Edwin Shirdloo, like a name, and pretend hes a friend of yours.)Three of today's letters are from our mnemonic. One is somewhat common, and the other is less common. Can you give me a hint for todays Wordle?A tiny piece that's been peeled away. Does todays Wordle have any double or repeated letters?There are no repeated letters today.How many vowels are in todays Wordle?There are two vowels. What letter does todays Wordle start with?Todays word starts with F.What letter does todays Wordle end with?Todays word ends with E.What is the solution to todays Wordle?Ready? Todays word is FLAKE.How I solved todays WordleI started with RAISE and TOUCH, then guessed BLIMP and GLADE, narrowing down possible consonants. This left FLAKE as the solution. Wordle 1,140 5/6Yesterdays Wordle answerYesterdays Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was this is found in a classroom and used by climbers and the answer contained three common letters, one fairly common letter, and one less common letter. The answer to yesterdays Wordle was CHALK. A primer on Wordle basicsThe idea of Wordle is to guess the days secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, youll see an empty grid of letters. Its up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word.Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word:Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and its in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then its game over.The best starter words for WordleWhat should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, thats still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isnt a single best starting word, but the New York Timess Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:CRANETRACESLANTCRATECARTEMeanwhile, an MIT analysis found that youll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:SALETREASTTRACECRATESLATEOther good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that its better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.How to win at WordleWe have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if youre a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, dont waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldnt have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.Wordle alternativesIf you cant get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after anotherDordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the days solution. Youre required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

With AI working its way into seemingly every new mobile app, its easy to forget that its also getting baked into the apps weve all been using for years. Today, Google announced three new AI features coming to the desktop version of Chrome that, while a bit on the understated side, seek to make everyday browsing a bit more convenient. Credit: Google Google Lens is coming to desktopFirst up is a feature thats already been on mobile since 2017: Google Lens. Serving as the basis behind circle to search, Google Lens allows users to tap on an object in an image to quickly search Google Images for visual matches. Now, desktop users will be able to click on a new Lens icon in the address bar to do the same thing.Theres also some circle to search adjacent tech here: Beyond simply clicking on an object, youll be able to drag a box over the specific part of the image you want to search, an option Google suggests could be useful for students watching a math lecture who want some help with a specific equation.Once youve searched for a part of an image, youll also be able to use the existing multisearch feature to ask Gemini follow-up questions about your search. For instance, you could use Google Lens to look up a type of plant, then ask Gemini for care instructions for that plant. Credit: Google Use AI to comparison shopOutside of Lens, comparison shopping is set to get easier, too. If youve ever had multiple tabs open trying to compare between different phone cases or bluetooth speakers, you know how annoying it can be to bounce back and forth between them to check things like features and pricing. Google promises that Chrome users in the U.S. will soon be able to have Gemini generate a comparison table that will show images, pricing, user reviews, and basic summaries of all similar products across their open tabs, all on one page. Google said it could even see a future version of the feature being useful for planning travel or figuring out what university to attend, although its starting with shopping (which is probably easier to monetize than the college selection process). Credit: Google Search your browser history using natural languageFinally, Google wants to make it easier to catch up on where you left off by letting you use AI to search your browser history. The idea is that instead of being forced to remember URLs, you could visit your search history and ask a chat interface a question like what was that ice cream shop I looked at last week? Chrome would then pull up all the matching sites.Google says it will exclude sites browsed in incognito mode from AI searches, and a Google representative told Lifehacker that your browsing history will not be used to train Gemini. The feature will also be opt-in, requiring users to navigate to Settings > You and Google > Sync and Google Services > Other Google services > History search, powered by AI to turn it on.Google Lens on desktop will launch globally in the latest Chrome update rolling out over the next few days, while tab comparison and AI-powered history search will be U.S. exclusive to start. There is no set timetable for tab compare, as Google is calling it, but AI-powered search history is set for the coming weeks. All three features use cloud-based AI models, rather than relying on your devices native computing power.

Having a dishwasher is a game changer, even if its a tiny oneit cuts down on both labor and water use. Like air conditioning, the dishwasher an all-time great that tops the list of modern inventions, excluding big ones like electricity and indoor plumbing (both of which necessarily predated the creation of the dishwasher). Still, there's one drawback: Most dishwashers are very good at washing dishes, but they arent so great at drying dishes.The viral TikTok dish-drying hackEnter this hack from Babs, the TikTok grandma everyone loves. Though shes had her hits and her misses, Babs is generally reliable, but this dish-drying maneuver is a true timesaving hack. In this old video (which has since resurfaced and gone viral a second time), Babs drapes a terrycloth dishtowel inside her dishwasher once the dishes are done (that is, after the washing and drying cycle is complete). She lets it hang out for five minutes, then opens the washer to reveal truly dry dishes. Why the hack works for drying dishesTouching wet dishes feels gross and drying dishes is boring, so this hack is a winner just because it precludes those two actions. After a quick test, it's confirmed: This works well, though its not quite as effective as the video implies. I washed my dishes, I draped and waited, and then opened my dishwasher to reveal ... mostly dry dishes. My plates were completely dry, as were most of my other dishes, but there was still some water pooled on top of a few bowls and coffee cups.Why does this work? The towel absorbs the steam thats wafting around in the washer after the washing and automatic drying is all done, and keeps it from condensing on your dishes. Of course, a dish towel, no matter how absorbent, is simply not capable of soaking up pooled water from several inches away, so this hack means far less drying, which is not the no drying Babs promises, but is still much better than drying every single dish. After this post was originally published, however, a few of you commented that opening the dishwasher to put the towel in there might actually be a key component of what makes this work. Opening the door and allowing air to flow in for a while is actually a no-brainer, old-fashioned method that is almost too obviouswhich might be why we don't think to do it (and is also why some newer models open up automatically when a rinse is over). Consider just popping open the door after a load finishes, but not unloading right away. You can do this after sticking the towel in there if you want, too, for a double whammy.

Despite the headline you see above, for the most part, I dont buy the premise that movies can be so bad, theyre actually good. If a movies good, isnt it just...good? Theres no question, however, that movies can succeed by failing.Ed Wood is an extreme but perfect example of a filmmaker who never achieved precisely what he set out to do with any of his movies, but who nonetheless made cinematic magic out of enthusiasm, shamelessness, and no small measure of self-delusion. That kind of thing is always better than a strained attempt at creating the same effect. Think Sharknadoa movie thats fun, but that works so hard to achieve silliness that you can see the flop sweat. The best so bad they're good movies get there quite by accident.Personally, Id almost always rather watch an interesting failure than a boring successsometimes because passion is contagious, and just as often because a true WTF-level debacle is a rare and glorious thing. Here are 35 of them.Jason X (2001) In the not-too-distant future (2010 AD), Jason Voorhees has been captured by the United States governmentbut they've been trying to kill him for years with no luck. So they do what America does best: pawn the problem off on a future generation. They freeze the big guy, who's then discovered nearly five centuries later by a team exploring the now uninhabitable Earth. They wake him up which, as you can imagine, is a bad ideahe goes on a killing spree. But in space! Long-derided, the movie is an awful lot of fun if you're willing to go along with the over-the-top premise. It's got all of the grisly kills you'd expect in a Friday the 13th movie (including a memorable bit involving liquid nitrogen), and, more importantly, a sense of humor about itself. That light tone and a cool Jason redesign make it a delightfully goofy bit of sci-fi horror.Where to stream: Digital rentalSkidoo (1968) Imagine a whacked-out, trippy counterculture LSD movie directed by one of the leading lights of classic Hollywood and starring mostly older actors with names like Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Mickey Rooney, and Groucho Marx (as a gangster named God who might also be God).Its about...well, OK, Ive seen it at least three times and have no idea what its about, but following some heist antics and a handful of acid trips, it culminates with Channings character (in a slightly naughty sea admirals uniform) leading a flotilla of hippies to storm Gods yacht before Harry Nilsson (the films composer) sings the entirety of the closing credits. Some would say that Anatomy of a Murder or Laura are director Otto Premingers masterpieces, but this is an all-time triumph of weirdness.Where to stream: PlexBattle Beyond the Stars (1980) Its clear that the filmmakers behind Battle were in on the joke, at least to a point. One of the movies centerpiece models is, after all, Nell, an organic spaceship which looks, very deliberately, like a pair of breasts attached to a set of ovaries.Still, the Roger Corman-produced space opera is an uneasy combination of silly and serious, with an impressive cast (Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, etc.) giving their all to do a take on Star Wars that the movie only partly commits to. That tension, though, is a hallmark of the so bad its good genre.Where to stream: Peacock, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Shout Factory TV, Prime VideoHoward the Duck (1986) This 1986 adaptation of the Steve Gerber comic was a passion project of George Lucas for over a decadeit was also the first time a Marvel character had appeared on the big screen, at least since a 1944 Captain America serial. Could Howard the Duck have jumpstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe a quarter of a century before Iron Man? Unlikely, but a tantalizing prospect given that it might have teed up a far sassier run of films. A box office bomb that earned critical derision and four Razzies, it stars Lea Thompson as the human woman who first encounters (and eventually sleeps with) the strange visitor from Duckworld. The movie's full of wild, bold, and not entirely successful choices, but committed performances from Thompson and company have given the movie a cult status.Where to stream: Prime VideoBatman & Robin (1997) Ive yet to encounter a convincing, revisionist take that Batman & Robin is some kind of misunderstood masterpiecethough thats a tempting take. The day-glo styling and notoriously pronounced nipples suggest a misunderstood queer classic in the offingbut its simultaneously too much and not enough.For everything going on, the movie still manages dull stretches, and the comic-book-inspired palette tends toward the cheap and ugly. And yet! Its a fascinating misfire, and serves as a throwback to a moment when a major studio would spend boatloads of money on something so weird and idiosyncratic. And, though it doesnt ultimately work, its the last time that big-screen Batman was anything approaching fun.Where to stream: Max, digital rentalJupiter Ascending (2015) The Wachowskis have taken some bold swings in their filmmaking careers. They haven't all panned out, but their films are never boring, and this one has their characteristically lavish visual style. Mila Kunis stars as Jupiter Jones, who cleans houses for a living before learning that she has a grander inheritance thanks to the intervention of Channing Tatum, playing a genetically engineered dog person. It's a fun, goofy hodgepodge of science fiction tropes blended with some clever ideas and a who-cares? attitude. The MVP here is surely Eddie Redmayne, whose absolutely unhinged performance as the primary villain is objectively pretty awful, but endlessly entertaining. The actor famously won an Oscar for The Theory of Everything the same week that he "won" a Worst Supporting Actor Razzie for this film. I'm not a big fan of the Razzies, but this one felt deservedin the best way.Where to stream: Prime VideoFear (1996) On a surface level, this is heavy material: gaslighting, abuse, sexual assault, and manipulation swirling around a teenage relationship. Its all done with such over-the-top style, though, that its nearly impossible to take any of it seriouslyby the movies conclusion, Mark Wahlbergs hard-to-kill David might as well be Michael Myers. Those elements, as well as the movies soon-to-be A-list cast, explain why a movie with the plot of a middling Lifetime movie has become a minor cult classic.Where to stream: Paramount+, digital rentalCats (2019) If camp can be defined as failed seriousness, then Cats stands as a shining example of the form. The array talents assembled here is extraordinary, with an Oscar-winning director in the lead of a to-die-for cast performing numbers from one of Broadways all-time most popular musicals. Clearly, everyone involved thought they were involved in a prestige film tailor-made for awards season.We werent much past the release of the first trailer before those hopes were dashed, with the suspension of disbelief accorded to costumed performers on a theater stage disappearing completely into an uncanny valley of digitally enhanced cat bodies and sets. What was meant to be charming became vaguely nightmarish, but that disconnect between what was intended and the end result is a sure indication that Cats, given just a bit more time, is guaranteed a slot in the canon of deeply trippy cult classics.Where to stream: Netflix, digital rentalMommie Dearest (1981) As with Cats, it was clear from early on that audiences werent receiving Mommie Dearest as it was intended. What was intended to be a deeply serious biopic and an exploration of child abuse was, instead, viewed as a high-camp dark comedy. Wisely, Paramount quickly shifted gears and changed the movies marketing to lean into its more outr elementsadding wire hangers to the posters and promising ...the biggest MOTHER of them all! as if to reassure audiences that they were in on the joke, which they most assuredly had not been during production.The flawless retro production design is a huge part of the appeal here, as is Faye Dunaways wildly, perfectly over-the-top performance. Her commitment to a serious performance is precisely why its so brilliantly funny.Where to stream: Paramount+, digital rentalSupergirl (1984) Speaking of Faye Dunaway, she gives another completely delicious performance in this muddled spin-off, an early attempt at creating a superheroic cinematic universe. Supergirl wisely attempts to move away from the science fiction trappings of the Superman movies and into something a bit more fantasy-inspired, but it plays like a bunch of set pieces that never really come together into anything coherent. Still, Dunaway is fun to watch and Helen Slater is perfectly cast as Kara Zor-El, even if the movie only sporadically works.Where to stream: Digital rentalMadame Web (2024) There's a reasonably effective set-up here: Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) is an awkward paramedic who develops powers of premonition following a near-death experience. When she has a vision of three young women being murdered on a train, she takes it upon herself to rescue them. Not so complicated! Until we wind up with a long-dead mother in the Amazon, three Spider-Women, a villain with inexplicable motives, flashbacks, flash forwards, and moments when the action stops dad in its tracks while characters try to explain all of this to the audience, to little avail. Add to all of that wildly unsubtle product placement that makes the movie feel like one big awkward Pepsi commercial. If anything, it's even clunkier than last year's Spider-adjacent flop, Morbius, thereby earnings its spot here as a movie best enjoyed under the influence. Where to stream: Netflix, digital rentalPiranha (1978) It feels churlish to include tongue-in-cheek movies here, but, given that contemporaneous reviews seemed to miss the point, we'll give it a spot here. A Roger Corman cheapie carefully calculated to pull in some of that sweet Jaws money, the goofy B-horror classic is all in good funa style of comedy-horror that debut director Joe Dante would go on to master. Here, genetically modified piranhas escape from a military facility with the help of some skinny dippers (of course), and proceed to eat their way through a summer camp full of unwary swimmers. John Sayles (The Brother from Another Planet, Matewan, Eight Men Out and many, many others) wrote the screenplay, a reminder that even the cheapest Corman films were mini talent factories.Where to stream: Peacock, Tubi, AMC+, Crackle, Shudder Night Flight, Prime VideoPootie Tang (2001) Writer/director Louis C.K.s name doesnt carry nearly the cachet that it used to, and its entirely reasonable to be a little skeeved by him and his work. Nevertheless, movies are so thoroughly collaborative that its hard to know where to draw the line. Mileage will definitely vary. As for Pootie Tang, its goofy as hell, with a tossed-off quality, but the silliness is often inspired, parodying the blaxploitation films of the '70s and grounded by performances from some incredibly talented and reliably funny people, including Wanda Sykes, J.B. Smoove, Chris Rock, Reg E. Cathey, and Jennifer Coolidge (who, as always, steals every scene shes in). Its also wildly quotable, particularly if you saw it at a particularly impressionable and frequently stoned age.Where to stream: Tubi, digital rentalGods of Egypt (2016) Alex Proyas is responsible for The Crow and Dark City, two of the most imaginative films of the past few decades. Hes also directed...other movies. Proyas vision of an alternate ancient Egypt in which Gods walk among mortals is, ultimately, deeply sillyas well as being (with the exception of Chadwick Boseman) overwhelmingly white.Putting all that aside, though, it does manage to reflect Proyas impressive visual imagination and idiosyncrasies. In that, at least, its not bad as an antidote to our current glut of more coherent, but also far duller, superhero movies.Where to stream: Max, digital purchaseDune (1984) The arrival of the two-part Denis Villeneuve adaptation has, quite naturally, drawn attention back to the 1984 version, from popular director Alan Smithee, a pseudonym used by David Lynch by way of disavowing the film (or at least the longer TV cut). He wasnt wrong to be disappointedthe movie isnt a misunderstood masterpiece, but it is a fascinating curiosity with moments of real power that occasionally captures essential elements of Frank Herberts novel. Ultimately, Lynchs vision is probably far too distinct to ever have made him a good fit for this type of adaptation, and studio interference further compromised a project that was already going to be a tough sell.Where to stream: Netflix, digital rentalMasters of the Universe (1987) Feelings about He-Man run hot, weve recently had cause to learn, and only slightly less so in the pre-internet days of the late '80s. Moving the action from Eternia to Earth and adding some teenaged sidekicks was never going to be the way to appeal to fans of the overwhelmingly popular cartoon, leaving pretty much no one to cheer for a movie that should have been a slam dunk.Its status as an adaptation of the show is its biggest problem, as it happens. Viewed as a standalone mid-80s fantasy film, it works much better. Its still incredibly goofy, but elevated by a scenery-chewing Frank Langella and some Jack Kirby-inspired character designs that lend the movie a visual distinctiveness.Where to stream: TubiGrease 2 (1982) The virtues of the first Grease movie are debatable, but it was unquestionably a mega-hit that became an instant classic with audiences. I like Grease 2 better, honestly, even if its a far less polished film. The musical numbers are all over the place, many of them seeming as though they were just dropped into the movie at random (the ode to bowling, for instance). Lead Michelle Pfeiffers Stephanie is, on the surface, the coolest character in either of the filmsbut lacks any motivation beyond wanting a tough-guy boyfriend. Its all pretty slapdash, but the cast is clearly having fun and the whole thing is so amiable and lively that its hard to hate.Where to stream: Paramount+, digital rentalStaying Alive (1983) Staying in ill-conceived sequel territory for a moment, we rejoin John Travoltas Tony Manero as he continues the quest for dancing glory begun in the disco classic Saturday Night Fever. Theres not really a plot here to speak of, but there are some very fun dance numbers and impressive costumes, as well as a self-seriousness that runs to hilarity if youre in the right mood.Where to stream: Digital rentalXanadu (1980) A fantasy roller-disco musical staring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly? What could possibly go wrong?! Turns out, Xanadu was a failure on almost every level: The dance numbers are stale and stagy, the effects are fairly terrible (even by 1980 standards) and the acting isnt great. Given that there isnt much of a plot, it needed to work as a spectacle, and didnteven inspiring the infamous Golden Raspberry Awards.A movie can be a critical and box office flop, though, and still achieve cult status. Its utter weirdness is a draw (Gene Kelly? Really?), and it can be a ton of fun if youre willing to entertain the question what were they thinking? for 90 minutes or so.Where to stream: Digital rentalPlan 9 from Outer Space (1959) Ed Wood reigns, of course, as the patron saint of cult moviesa filmmaker with such passion and seriousness that he doesnt seem to have realized that he was making films that werent just terrible, but so terrible that they achieved immortality. In that vein, Plan 9 is his magnum opus, a movie about alien invaders that hopes we wont notice that Bela Lugosi was replaced mid-production by a much taller chiropractor. The thing is: We did notice, and we only love it that much more.Where to stream: Tubi, The Roku Channel, Mubi, digital rentalTroll 2 (1990) We have to give a mention to Troll 2, a notoriously troubled film that became the subject of a documentary (Best Worst Film) exploring the reasons for its popularity in the face of its very debatable merits as a film. Its unclear how much of the film is meant to be funny, given the language barrier between the Italian-speaking writer/director and crew and the English-speaking cast, but it certainly earns its status as a movie whose failings make it far more entertaining than it likely would have been were it a success.Oh, and dont worry if you go in cold, its not actually a sequel to anythingthe producers just wanted to capitalize on the relative popularity of the 1986 movie Troll.Where to stream: Tubi, MGM+, digital rentalThe Room (2003) An autobiographical passion project for writer/director/producer Tommy Wiseau, The Room has a spot in the bad movie hall of fame, alternating between incomprehensible monologues and sub-porn level dialogue, while throwing in a couple of truly weird sex scenes.The thing is, a successful The Room, one that resembled whatever the hell Wiseau had in mind when he conceived this thing, couldnt possibly have been more purely entertaining than the finished product. No intentional parody could ever replicate the sheer entertainment value in trying to figure out exactly whats going on in this movie from moment to moment.Where to stream: Tommy Wiseau has it posted at Archive.org.Road House (1989) Road House is my favorite Patrick Swayze movie, all the more so for its rather heightened view of life among bouncers in Missouri. Its practically operatic, including far more explosions than youd think the typical roadside bar experiences and multiple deadly fights. Its also got some truly laughable dialogue and several dead-end plots, but all the more glorious for all of that.Where to stream: Digital rentalAnaconda (1997) Anaconda walks the line here, in that its clearly intended to be a little ridiculous, but also achieves something through over-the-top acting and dodgy special effects that puts it above and beyond a more typical jungle-action monster movie. Sorry for the spoiler, but watching Jon Voight get eaten by a giant CGI snake is a pleasure all its own.Where to stream: Netflix, digital rentalShowgirls (1995) Paul Verhoeven is a complete mystery to me. While his Starship Troopers is often seen as unintentionally hilarious, I have no doubt that he knew exactly what he was doing with that one. Im not so sure with this notorious erotic dramaI made a commitment to not include intentional camp on this list, but Im honestly not sure how much of Showgirls stilted strangeness is intentional, and how much is by accident. Either way, its entertaining as hell.Where to stream: Tubi, MGM+Samurai Cop (1991) Joe Marshall (Matthew Karedas, billed here as Matt Hannon) might be a white LAPD cop, but ACTUALLY he's very into Japanese culture and practically qualifies as a samurai, given that he spent time in Japan and knows how to use a sword. Luckily he's on hand when a rogue Yakuza faction makes its presence known in Los Angeles, leading to an extravagant martial arts fight in the parking lot of a Carlos'n Charlie's. The fighting itself isn't bad, but the sound was all done as ADR after filming was complete, and most of the actors didn't returnso most of the voices are the same couple of actors, pitched differently; as a consequences, most of them sound like robots. Pick-up shots were done in a single bare office location, so reaction shots frequently don't match. It's the Plan 9 from Outer Space of '80s/'90s action movies.Where to stream: Tubi, Night FlightMoonfall (2022) This one very much depends on your tolerance for dumb action blockbusters in the style of Roland Emmerichor, in this case, literally Roland Emmerich. His latest stars Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson, who have to stop the moon from crashing to Earth. Because it's hollow and filled with aliens bent on destruction. Or something? The plot's definitely not the point, nor is science accuracy: astrophysicist and professional scold Neil DeGrasse Tyson said the film "violated more laws of physics per minute than any movie I had ever seen." But it's never boring!Where to stream: USA, digital rentalThe Wicker Man (2006) Nicolas Cage insists that the comedy in this remake of the '70s cult classic was largely intentional, and the film is almost outlandish enough to make you believe him. "No, not the bees! Not the bees!" (in a scene during which Cage's character Malus is being tortured with bees, naturally) is Nicolas Cage par excellence, and has outdistanced the film as a meme. Even better, though, is when Malus, disguised in a bear suit, sucker-punches Ellen Burstyn in the face. The movie is also dedicated to Johnny Ramone, for some reason.Where to stream: Digital rentalMaximum Overdrive (1986) The Stephen King adaptation genre includes more than its share of cinematic classics, and plenty of crap. But! Among the less-loved King movies are some fascinating guilty pleasures, none more deranged than the single film that King directed himself. While one wouldn't care to make light of the author's substance-abuse issues in the 1980s, King has been pretty honest about the extent to which he was "coked out of [his] mind all through its production." The film involves a comet that turns machines on Earth evil, leading to Emilio Estevez and company being terrorized by, say, a vending machine that shoots soda projectiles. It's a thoroughly mean-spirited mess, but somehow also a lot of goofy fun, with a killer AC/DC soundtrack.Where to stream: Tubi, Prime VideoThe Ice Pirates (1984) Robert Urich (best known as Spenser: For Hire to anyone under 40) leads a very '80s cast in this sci-fi spectacular(?) that attempts to appeal to Star Wars fans with a story set in a distant future where water is scarce, but only because a group called The Templars of Mithra hoard any available, and destroy worlds with natural supplies of the stuff in order to ensure that it remains a scarce commodity (nice to know that American-style capitalism will outlive us). Intended as a blockbuster, the movie's budget was cut by more than half early in development, and so it was decided to salvage the production by turning it into a comedy, a tonal shift which makes the final product both goofier and more chaotic than it might otherwise have been. Bonus: The cast is stacked: Anjelica Huston, Ron Perlman, Bruce Vilanch(!), John Carradine, and Dallas' Mary Crosby all star.Where to stream: Digital rentalWild Mountain Thyme (2020) Writer/director John Patrick Shanley has won Oscars and Tonys; his play Doubt won a Pulitzer Prize and his screenplay for Moonstruck is both moving and memorable. The film adaptation of his well-received play Outside Mullingar is almost dumbfounding enough to overwhelm all of that goodwill. In moving the story to the screen, the film loses itself in a schmaltzy faux-Irish atmosphere both emphasized and undercut by the abysmal Irish accent put on by Christopher Walken (just try to imagine it). The rom-com setup is fairly standard, dealing with two people on adjacent farms who stay apart for no particularly good reason until they get together, also for no particularly good reason. But then there comes the absolutely batshit twist ending, which I guarantee you won't see coming.Where to stream: Max, digital rentalMac and Me (1988) This movie is definitely not ripping off Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial at all. Here, "MAC" stands for "Mysterious Alien Creature," which is obviously completely different. This one also has a much lower budget and, while E.T. famously made much of some Reese's Pieces product placement, Mac and Me's commercial instincts are more finely honed: Mac is also a reference to the Big Mac, as in the hamburger from the film's primary sponsor, McDonald's, and we are not allowed to forget it. It's mostly goofy fun, with a major highlight in the form of an elaborately choreographed, but somehow impromptu, dance number inside a McDonald's that includes a cameo from Ronald himself.Where to stream: TubiThe Boy Next Door (2015) An erotic thriller in the not-entirely-venerable "hot for teacher" genre, The Boy Next Door stars Jennifer Lopez as Claire Peterson, a classics teacher in a troubled marriage who finds herself making significant eye contact with new kid on the block Noah (played by then 27-year-old Ryan Guzman). They bond over a mutual love of The Iliad, which is Noah's only discernible personality trait (other than biceps). The deal is sealed when he presents Claire with a FIRST EDITION COPY. OF THE ILIAD. The pair sleep together, but she feels bad about it, especially after school starts up and it turns out he's in her class. Stalking ensues, Kristin Chenoweth gets knocked out, and it's all very goofy as it tries to be very serious.Where to stream: Netflix, digital rentalZandalee (1991) As mentioned elsewhere, camp has sometimes been described as failed seriousness, which is why the erotic thriller so often lends itself to the form. These films are deadly serious as a rule, and yet only occasionally succeed in not leaning toward parody. Take Zandalee, a Nicolas Cage deep cut if ever there was one. It's about a young woman running a boutique store in New Orleans. She's deeply sexually frustrated by her unfulfilling marriage to Judge Reinhold, a condition alleviated by the arrival of Cage, who doesn't hold back in embodying a particular brand of machismo. And if youre cast in a largely nonsensical thriller that puts you in a love triangle with Judge Reinhold, why would you? Cage's performance aside, just try getting through the seductive (not even remotely seductive) dialogue with a straight face.Where to stream: Tubi, digital rentalSilent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987) Discussions around so-bad-they're-good movies are always wildly subjectiveMany John Waters movies have all the surface indications of bad filmmaking, yet he's justifiably regarded as one of our most important artists. Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 is bad in the conventional sense. Here, the brother of the killer from the first movie goes on his own murderous holiday rampage, and that earlier film is summarized via no less than 30 minutes of carryover footage. The filmmaking is amateurish, but the lead performance by Eric Freeman includes so many unexpected and deeply confusing choices that it's never not fun to watch. His wild-eyed reading of the line: "Garbage day!" even became something of a meme.Where to stream: Shudder, Tubi, AMC+, Prime Video

At this point, VLC is a staple of every Mac user's life. And it's not a bad video app. It will play virtually everything you throw at it, and it's free, and it's open-source. But at the same time, it hasn't really changed in more than a decade, and with the latest Apple Silicon MacBooks, VLC can sometimes feel quite slow. With Apple's modern design language, and the fast M chips, VLC feels quite out of place.If you've felt that too, it might be time to try out IINA. Like VLC, it's also a free, open source app that's regularly updated. But the twist is that it's modern, fast, and kind of works like if Apple made its own version of VLC. It has that trademark swiftness and polish that's evident in Apple apps. If you're considering a switch from VLC, here's why you should give IINA a shot.A swift and customizable interfaceVLC can be quite in your face, but IINA wants to get out of your way as soon as you start using it. While VLC can sometimes take a while to start playing a large 4K movie file (showing the animation in the video timeline as it loads up fully), IINA is instantaneous. You drop in a file, it starts playing, and the interface disappears in a couple of seconds. That swiftness is something that VLC just does't offer right now.Plus, the interface itself is heavily inspired by QuickTime player, but with its own spin to it. You have similar dark, translucent elements, but they do a lot more than what QuickTime offers. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Jump into the Settings and you can quickly customize the entire interface. From the General section, you can enable a feature that automatically opens your media in Full Screen as it starts playing. You can also choose to pause media when leaving full screen mode. Credit: Khamosh Pathak From the UI section, you can also enable a feature to always play media on top of every other window (no need to manually engage Picture-in-Picture mode, which the app also offers). By default, the app has a QuickTime style floating toolbar menu, but you can choose to dock it to the top or the bottom, making it less distracting. The toolbar itself is quite customizable, and you can add to it with optional extra controls for subtitles, full-screen mode, and screenshots. My only complaint here is that the buttons in the toolbar are too small, and it's easy to forget that the Playlist feature is hidden behind a small toolbar button, while it's a big focal point in VLC.A useful welcome screen Credit: Khamosh Pathak I'm generally not a fan of welcome screens in apps. Sometimes they can feel like an additional step before you can get to the task at hand. IINA's welcome screen, though, has one useful feature. It keeps a history of your recently played items, and offers to resume playback right where you left off (you only get this in VLC after opening a video file manually). And of course, the playback is instant. From the welcome screen, you can also start playback for any online stream.An elevated subtitles downloader Credit: Khamosh Pathak For years, VLC has included a subtitles downloader, but as a plugin. As a non-native speaker, one of the first things I do when I download media is to look for subtitles, and anything that can save me from spammy sites is a god send. I've had varying degree of luck with VLC, but the whole experience is much better with IINA. The subtitles downloader feature is baked-in, looks like it was designed in this century, and works quite fast.Over all, IINA's speed and polish makes it a modern option, without losing any of the performance that comes with VLC. That is, if you're on Mac. Sadly, IINA is not available for any other platform, not even iPhone or iPad.

You can get this refurbished MacBook Air on sale for $299.97 right now (reg. $599) through September 3, and while it's from 2017, people still love theirs in 2024. It has a grade A refurbished rating, meaning it's in near-mint condition with very minimal to zero amounts of cosmetic wear, and it has an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a 13.3" display, a 720p FaceTime HD camera, two USB 3.0 ports, and an SDXC-capable SD card slot. It obviously isn't right for you if you need a newer MacBook for video editing or other heavy tasks, but if you know your needs and can get by just fine with an older one, this is a great option. You can get this refurbished MacBook Air on sale for $299.97 right now (reg. $599) through September 3 at 11:59 p.m. PT, though prices can change at any time.

Payments relating to a class action lawsuit filed in 2018 over Apples butterfly MacBook keyboards have reportedly begun to arrive. The settlement website now states that payments for approved claims will go out in August and sure enough, 9to5Macs Michael Burkhardt reports that he received two settlement checks in the mail on Saturday. Just how much eligible MacBook owners will get varies depending on the extent of the repairs their devices needed. But for some, it could mean a check (or multiple) of up to $395.After Apple introduced the butterfly keyboard in 2015, complaints arose over sticky and unresponsive keys, susceptibility to debris and other major issues. The company ultimately started phasing out the design in 2019. The lawsuit filed in 2018 accused Apple of knowing that its keyboards had problems and concealing this from consumers. While Apple denied the lawsuits allegations of defective keyboards and did not admit to any wrongdoing, it agreed to pay $50 million as part of a settlement.Per the settlement website, people who got two or more topcase replacements within four years of purchasing one of the affected MacBooks are expected to get between $300-$395. MacBook owners who got just one topcase replacement could get up to $125. Claimants who only needed keycap replacements will get a maximum of $50. Of course, to receive a payment, youd need to have filed any claims by the deadlines outlined in the settlement. And, when the settlement was first reached in 2022, Reuters reported that it will only apply to customers who bought the affected laptops in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Washington. You can find the full details in the cases FAQ.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-has-finally-started-sending-out-payments-from-its-butterfly-keyboard-settlement-210754935.html?src=rss

New releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention.Toward Eternity by Anton HurToward Eternity does not waste any time in getting to the drama. The novel by Anton Hur begins in the not-so-far-off future, and opens with a moment of crisis: a patient in a nanotherapy research clinic has seemingly vanished into thin air. This patient had been undergoing a new type of treatment that uses android cells (dubbed nanites) to cure cancer by replacing the bodys own cells. In doing so, however, it transforms the body entirely into a nanodroid, giving rise to nano humans that are no longer subjected to mortality.The story jumps through time and different perspectives, exploring what it means to be human in a world where technology is quickly catching up to biology. From the second I started reading this one, I did not want to put it down.Into the Clear Blue Sky: The Path to Restoring Our Atmosphere by Rob JacksonIt can be hard not to get swept up in the doom and gloom of climate change, especially amid reports marking Earths hottest years on record and still-rising emissions from fossil fuels. Stanford climate scientist Rob Jacksons new book Into the Clear Blue Sky: The Path to Restoring Our Atmosphere aims to foster a more optimistic outlook by calling attention to the courses of action that could lead us to a better future for our planet and its inhabitants.I view my book as a home repair manual for the planet, Jackson said in a recent interview published by the scientific journal ACS Central Science. It highlights the people and the ideas needed to solve the climate crisis. I want most of all to give people hope, a sense of optimism. Yes, climate change is already bad, but we can still fix this problem.Epitaphs from the Abyss #1Legendary comic book publisher EC Comics, which brought us series like Tales from the Crypt and Weird Science more than 70 years ago, is making a comeback with its first new series in decades: Epitaphs from the Abyss. The first issue of the horror series was released at the end of July and features four tales which are introduced by a ghoulish narrator dubbed The Grave-Digger.Epitaphs from the Abyss #1 has stories by Brian Azzarello, J. Holtham, Stephanie Phillips and Chris Condon, with art by Lee Bermejo, Phil Hester, Peter Krause and Jorge Forns. Theres something about those old EC Comics that just hits different, and Epitaphs faithfully slips back into that vibe to deliver spooky new stories that have a classic feel.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/what-to-read-books-existential-sci-fi-ai-technology-climate-crisis-solutions-ec-comics-horror-183058573.html?src=rss