No kind of Hollywood movie is more beloved and more reviled than a sequel. People say they’re sick of rehashes of the same stories and characters; they bemoan the lack of originality in film and pine for the good ol’ days when the studios put more resources into creating new intellectual properties instead of repeatedly strip mining the same old ones.That’s what they say. Then you go and look at the annual lists of box-office hits and you see, contrary to those complaints, that sequels almost always rate at or near the top. The four biggest movies of 2024 were sequels — Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Moana 2, and Despicable Me 4 — and five of top ten movies of 2023 were too. It happens every year, without fail.Creatively, though, sequels fail all the time. Some of the biggest and most financially successful franchises in history have produced many of the most artistically bankrupt sequels. In the last 10 years alone there have been a slew of examples — so many, in fact, that ScreenCrush decided to compile this list of the ten worst of the last decade (plus ten more honorable mentions). These sorts of sequels are why people claim they hate sequels — even if they keep showing up to buy tickets to most of them anyway.The 10 Worst Sequels of the Last 10 Years (2015-2024)Audiences always push for sequels to their favorite movies. Sometimes, that backfires big time.“Honorable” Mentions: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Glass, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Rambo: Last Blood, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Wonder Woman 1984, Zoolander 2.READ MORE: 12 Iconic Movie Moments That Were Totally ImprovisedGet our free mobile app20 Sequels You Forgot ExistedThese hit films all got sequels — although most were flops, and all are now forgotten.

Paramount+ has a lighter lineup of original content in June, though the platform will stream the live broadcast of the 78th annual Tony Awards from Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The show, hosted by Wicked's Cynthia Erivo, will air live on June 8 for Paramount+ With Showtime subscribers—other viewers can watch on-demand the next day. Other content available for Paramount+ With Showtime users is Love Me (June 16), a post-apocalyptic romance starring Kristen Steward and Steven Yeun, and Noah's Arc: The Movie (June 20), 20 years after the titular show first debuted. Darryl Stephens, Rodney Chester, Doug Spearman, Christian Vincent, Jensen Atwood, and Wilson Cruz are set to reprise their roles. Here’s everything else coming to the service in June. Note that titles with an asterisk are exclusive to Paramount+ With Showtime; everything else is also available to subscribers on the ad-supported plan. Those with two asterisks are available to Paramount+ With Showtime users streaming live on CBS and to all subscribers the following day.Paramount+ Originals and premieres coming in June 2025Available June 8The 78th Annual Tony Awards**Available June 16Love Me*Available June 20Noah's Arc: The Movie,* premiereTV shows coming to Paramount+ in June 2025Available June 4SpongeBob SquarePants (season 14) Available June 11The Really Loud House (season 2) Available June 22Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (on-demand) Available June 25The Patrick Star Show (season 3) Ice Airport Alaska (season 5) The Last Cowboy (season 5) Movies coming to Paramount+ in June 2025Available June 13:10 to Yuma*12 Years a Slave Bad News Bears BlacKkKlansmanBoogie NightsBut I'm a CheerleaderCall Me By Your NameCarolCarriersCenter StageChanging LanesChasing AmyCloverfieldCrawlspaceDaddy Day CampDance FlickDog Day AfternoonDouble Jeopardy Eagle Eye ElfEnemy at the Gates EuroTripEverybody's Fine ExtractFirst Blood HeatwaveHow She MoveHow to Lose a Guy in 10 Days Imagine That In & OutIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal SkullIndiana Jones and the Last CrusadeIndiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Indiana Jones and the Temple of DoomJawbreakerKinky BootsLaw of DesireLayer Cake Light of My LifeLike a BossMarathon ManMastermindsMilitary Wives*Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final InsultNo Country for Old MenOrange CountyOverdrivePretty In PinkPulp Fiction Racing with the MoonRambo IIIRambo: First Blood Part II RED* Reservoir Dogs Risky Business Road Trip Run & Gun Saturday Night FeverSave the Last Dance School Ties Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse She's All That Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Stand By Me Teen Titans GO! To the Movies The Autopsy of Jane Doe* The Crossing Guard The Dictator The Fighting Temptations The GamblerThe General's DaughterThe Girl Next Door The Godfather The Godfather Part II The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone The Hunt for Red OctoberThe Ides of March The Kings of SummerThe Last Samurai The Lovely Bones The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of FearThe Naked Gun: From The Files of Police Squad! The Nice Guys The Other Woman* The People vs. Larry Flynt The Running ManThe ShootistThe Space Between Us* The Untouchables Tigerland Tommy BoyTootsie Total Recall (1990) True Grit Whiplash Without a Paddle xXxZola Available June 5Lions for Lambs*

While you can invest in high-quality sheets, the best cooling mattresses are a great foundation for a good night’s sleep. These beds are often equipped with proper air flow and temperature-regulating technologies that might just end the tossing-and-turning in the middle of the night, especially if you’re sleeping hot.To help along the way, AD editors and contributors set out to test the best in their homes. Cooling features our team kept an eye out for include everything from gel-infused foam to pocketed coils that help with motion isolation. We also looked at different mattress types (latex, hybrid, memory foam) and considered a variety of firmness levels. Below are some of our favorites, many of which come with a lengthy trial period, solid warranties, and even white glove delivery. Take a peek at the best cooling mattress options to suit your needs.Our Top Picks for the Best Cooling Mattresses:Best Overall Cooling Mattress: Cocoon by Sealy The Chill Mattress, $1,389 $899A Smart Option: Sleep Number i8 Mattress, $3,999 $2,799Best Hybrid Mattress: Saatva Latex Hybrid Mattress, $2,499 $2,199The Budget Pick: Allswell Supreme Mattress, $487Best Memory Foam Mattress: GhostBed Luxe Foam Mattress, $1,499Browse by CategoryFor consistency, all of the prices in this list reflect queen sizes.The Cooling Mattress, OverallCocoon by Sealy Chill MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesAffordableIncludes free Sealy Sleep Bundle (up to $199 value)Memory foam layers adjust to sleep positionDownsidesLeans more firm than medium, according to our testerSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Cooling cover, memory foam, cushioning foamFirmness: Medium-FirmWarranty: 100-night sleep trial, 10-year warranty“While my previous mattress was on the firmer side, it was not a memory foam or very cool mattress,” says contributor Cade Hiser in his review. “With the Cocoon Chill memory foam mattress, I do not wake up in the middle of the night like I used to, tossing and turning. I also stay sleeping at a comfortable temperature throughout the night.” The mattress clearly prioritizes body temperature control—hence the name. Hiser did note that since this memory foam mattress is a bit firmer, it may take a moment to adjust if you’re used to purely soft beds. The mattress comes in a box and is ready to be rolled out.A Smart OptionSleep Number i8 Smart BedUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesPressure-relieving supportCeramic gel to release excess heatAdjustable firmness levels for different sleepersDownsidesDifficult to move and requires unplugging the pump that needs to be reset via the appSpecsMattress type: Smart bedMaterials: CertiPUR-US certified foam, ceramic gel layerFirmness: AdjustableWarranty: 100-night trial; 15-year limited warrantySleep Number mattresses are lauded for their adjustable nature, and the i8 is a smart bed that also happens to help keep you from overheating thanks to its ceramic gel layer. The Responsive Air feature amps up the sleep quality by responding to movement throughout the night. “This mattress is exactly the firmness that I want on one side and exactly how my husband prefers on the other,” says Lisa Aiken, the senior vice president of commerce at Condé Nast. “It is easily changed and adjusted on the App, which links your phone to the bed via Bluetooth so you can adjust at any time to suit your mood.”Aiken was also impressed by the “exceptional customer service and delivery experience,” which not only included a smooth process that included the mattress setup, but also assistance with explaining how to use the Sleep Number App and all its capabilities so she could get the most out of her sleep experience.Best Hybrid MattressSaatva Latex Hybrid MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesTemperature regulatingMinimal motion transferIdeal for those with back painBotanic antimicrobial treatmentOld mattress and box spring removal is included in deliveryDownsidesDoesn’t ship in a boxSpecsMattress type: Latex hybridMaterials: Natural latex foam layer with vented airflow channels, individually wrapped coilsFirmness: Medium-firm, buoyant feelWarranty: 365-night home trial; lifetime warrantyGlobal editorial director and US editor in chief Amy Astley loves quite a few things about her Saatva mattress—the five ergonomic zones for support and the bed’s pressure-relieving qualities—and does not overlook the cooling component. The mattress is hand-tufted, hypoallergenic, and made of organic natural latex with organic cotton and New Zealand wool covers to promote cooler sleep. “[My husband and I] both sleep warm and appreciate the vented airflow channels, which allow for circulation and breathability,” she says. “ When my husband shifts, I cannot feel the bed moving–heaven. Ultimately, we are both so happy to tuck into this bed and don’t really want to get out of it in the morning.”Astley refers to the Saatva as “mattress gold” because of its comfort, body heat regulation, and the ability to make her lower back pain disappear. She notes that it is firm, but not rock hard, and is suitable for back sleepers (as vetted by her husband) and side-sleepers such as herself.The Budget PickAllswell Supreme Cooling Hybrid MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesCustomizable to fit a variety of mattress foundationsEasy setupBreathable top layerDownsidesThe delivery process was not smooth for our testerShorter mattress return window than competitorsSpecsMattress type: HybridMaterials: Six layers including copper-infused memory foam, high-density support foam, and pocketed spring coils for cooling comfortFirmness: MediumWarranty: 90-day returns; 10-year warrantyAt 14 inches thick, the Allswell Supreme Mattress certainly makes a statement, but it’s the copper foam layer that contours and has cooling properties that make it stand out. “I feel supported yet super comfortable, and, as promised, it keeps me very cool,” says contributor Rebecca Grambone in her review. “Their cooling technology actively draws and releases excess heat away from your body.” The 1.5-inch quilted top further ensures that you will sleep cool.Note that Allswell skews on the firmer side and if you’re not used to this, an adjustment period might be in store. Grambone did like that the company prizes customization for different beds, such as those with a box spring, a flat platform bed frame, an adjustable bed frame, or a slatted frame.Best Memory Foam MattressGhostBed Luxe Foam MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesCombination between graphite- and gel-infused memory foamPressure reliefSoft quilted coverDownsidesIncompatible with box springWeight limit 750 poundsSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Cooling gel memory foamFirmness: Medium-firmWarranty: 101-night sleep trial; 25-year warrantyThe tagline for GhostBed luxe is “The coolest bed in the world.” And while we haven’t tested every mattress there is, we are noting that it has patented Ghost Ice technology (a combination of graphite- and gel-infused memory foam) that absorbs and redistributes body heat and promises that the quilted cover has five times the cooling power.Tester Diane Dragen, the global content strategy and operations director at AD, who also reviewed the GhostBed luxe in our best mattresses for side sleepers guide, discovered the gel memory foam delivered on its promises to gently soothe her into sleep. “It’s very soothing and meditative, and it does feel like a luxury experience,” Dragen explains. Sleeping on this bed is a “very pleasant feeling,” especially because her vulnerable hip, shoulder, and back areas are lightly cradled as if she is slumbering on a beach.More AD-Approved Cooling MattressesCariloha Resort Bamboo MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesSide wedge supportsWhite glove serviceSustainableDownsides72-hour decompression periodSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Gel-infused memory foamFirmness: MediumWarranty: 100-night sleep trial; 10-year warrantyCariloha bamboo mattress has Resort in its name because you’re supposed to feel like you’re on vacation when you sleep. “The mattress is constructed from bamboo memory foam with five distinct layers that adapt and mold to your body shape, resulting in a sleep experience that is both very supportive and pleasantly soft,” Aiken says. Additionally, the mattress has a moisture-wicking feature in its Flex-Flow Base Foam that promises to improve airflow and keep you 3 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. The removable and washable cover is also made with bamboo, which is something we know and love when it comes to cooling bed sheets.Aiken also highlights that the side wedge supports “contribute to a feeling of a wider sleep surface (Cariloha claims a 25% increase) but also provide excellent additional structure and reinforcement along the edges and even in the center of the mattress.”Brentwood Home Oceano Luxury Hybrid MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesComes with free pillows and sleep masksIncludes GOTS-certified organic wool and cottonBioFoam cooling gelDownsidesPriceySpecsMattress type: HybridMaterials: Cooling gel with BioFoam and coilsFirmness: Medium-softWarranty: 365-night sleep trial, 25-year warrantyBrentwood Home Oceano hybrid mattress is what you might dream about if you sleep hot. It is constructed of nine layers, including cooling gel made with BioFoam. The GOTS-certified organic wool and cotton further add to the breathability. “This mattress feels so luxurious after a long day running around NYC,” says contributor Nick Mafi in his review of the best mattress brands. “This mattress has that perfectly deluxe feel and best-in-class support. I love sleeping on this mattress, but it’s also perfect for reading and editing manuscripts (my main activity!), working on a laptop, and lounging around watching TV with friends.”Then there is the support. With nearly 2,700 coils (1,722 micro-coils and 975 pocketed coils around the perimeter), you will never feel as if you’re sinking into some sort of abyss. Compared to other mattresses on the list, this one does not have a firm feel. In fact, Mafi was initially wary of the 4.5 out of 10 firmness scale. “I’ve never considered myself someone who loves a soft bed, but boy was I wrong!” he explains. “I love this mattress. It’s squishy, but still supportive. Perhaps it's the Air Luxe foam, which helps with pressure relief, at play.Amerisleep AS3 MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesEco-friendlySmooth delivery processEasy setupNo off-gassingDownsidesNo contact deliverySpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: Plant-based memory foam with four layersFirmness: Medium-SoftWarranty: 100-night sleep trial, 20-year warrantyThe AS3 is Amerisleep’s best-selling mattress. You can sleep cooler in part because it is made with a plant-based memory foam with an open cell design called Bio-Pur, and it also incorporates HIVE technology to amp up the airflow. To top it off, it comes with a scientifically engineered Refresh cover that uses minerals to manage body heat and is said to keep you 7 degrees cooler than a polyester cover. When it comes to plushness, the mattress is “definitely on the softer side,” says tester Rachel Logie, senior analytics manager. “The memory foam bounces back faster than most memory foam mattresses I’ve tried, so you don’t get that ‘stuck’ feeling.”Puffy Cloud MattressUpsides & DownsidesUpsidesArrives in a box, easy transportComes with free pillows and sleep masksOur tester says it has “cloud-like” comfortDownsides:The bed is not sustainably made like some others in our listSpecsMattress type: Memory foamMaterials: 6-layer memory foamFirmness: Medium-firmWarranty: 101-night sleep trial; Lifetime warrantyThe Puffy Cloud is meant to feel like bliss, and it lives up to its name not only in the comfort category but also because the six-layer memory foam mattress incorporates cooling technology that allows the air to circulate, so you never feel like your torso is a prisoner of night sweats. “The light, supportive cradling of the foam layers is comforting and cool,” says Dragan. “It really is cloud-like! Unlike other mattresses I’ve tested, your body doesn’t sink into the layers of foam as much as it rests lightly on the surface.”

Rambo is set to return, with a prequel project in the pipe from Sisu and Big Game director Jalmari Helander. According to Deadline, Millennium Media is currently launching the film – called John Rambo – at the Cannes market. The Cannes market is an event that runs during the Cannes Film Festival, and it’s where upcoming film projects that are still seeking funding or distribution partners are revealed and exhibited to potential investors. Millennium Media, known for the Expendables and Has Fallen series, was one of the production companies behind 2008’s Rambo and 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood.Nothing is known about John Rambo’s plot beyond the fact that it will be set during the Vietnam War and serve as a prequel to 1982’s iconic First Blood. No casting has been finalised. Deadline reports that original Rambo star Sylvester Stallone is aware of the project but is not involved at this stage.PlayThe script for John Rambo has been written by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani (The Mauritanian, Black Adam) and it’s planned to begin shooting in Thailand from October.As unexpected as a Rambo prequel may be, Helander’s carnage-filled 2023 WWII action film Sisu (which essentially turned John Wick into an elderly Finnish commando and set him loose against Nazis retreating from Finland following the Lapland War) indicates he’s certainly up to the job.PlayLuke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.

Five-tower Goods Station scheme signed off after developer Vita Group changes one tower to private sale Simpson Haugh will be required to stay on the project as a ‘guardian of quality’ following changes to the scheme’s section 106 agreement Birmingham council has approved Simpson Haugh’s plans for 1,200-home Goods Station scheme a month after councillors deferred a decision over fears about an excess of tall buildings in the city. A recommendation to approve Vita Group’s five-tower redevelopment of a former office building occupied by Atkins was carried with seven votes in favour and one abstention. The scheme, located next to the Mailbox, will consist of three blocks of 49, 39 and 10 storeys containing a combined 868 homes, a 29-storey student accommodation tower containing 720 bedpsaces and a 19-storey hotel building containing 229 serviced apartments. The height, scale and housing mix of the scheme had come under attack in the council’s last planning committee in April, with one councillor warning approval would represent “another incremental twist towards a city of tall towers”. Councillors also criticised the design of the proposals, which councillor Gareth Moore described as “just a collection of boxes”.  However, concerns over the scheme’s housing mix, which had consisted entirely of build-to-rent, were alleviated by Vita’s decision to change one of the residential towers to private sale following the vote for deferral in last month’s committee meeting. Councillors had criticised the build-to-rent plans for contributing to an oversupply of housing targeted at single professionals rather than families.  A clause has also been added to the scheme’s section 106 requiring Simpson Haugh to be retained throughout the delivery of the scheme to act as a “guardian of quality”. Councillor David Barker said: “I believe we have a much better scheme now than the one previously there… I do think this is probably a lesson and a reason to defer more things when we are unhappy with it, to actually be a bit braver in the committee in saying we are able to determine what is good enough for the city and clearly we’ve had success by doing it. Planning committee chair Lee Marsham added: “I think it’s great to see a brownfield site brought into use. I think it’s good that they listened to our previous committee’s comments. I think as a committee we have to be mindful when we do show a bit of rigour and be careful when we do and this is an example where clearly that has made a difference.”  Commenting on the requirement for Simpson Haugh to stay on the project as delivery architect, he said: “Having that reassurance and that oversight is to be welcomed and i think we should be pushing for more of that, particularly on large schemes that have a huge impact on our city.” The project team for the Goods Station scheme includes landscape architect LDA Design, planning consultant Turley, structural and civil engineer Ramboll, cost consultant Arcadis, commercial agent CBRE and daylight consultant GIA.

Macworld Super-weird bugs in Messages are nothing new, but this latest one is a real head-scratcher: If you try to send an audio message with the phrase “Dave and Buster’s,” it won’t work. Why would that specific phrasing cause a problem? A coding expert has cracked the case. I won’t say “and the reason will shock you,” but if you’re anything like me, you’ll find it interesting. First, let me explain what happens when the bug triggers. At first, the audio message (“I’m off to eat lunch at Dave and Buster’s,” as an example) appears to send normally. It shows up in the Messages thread to the recipient, along with a transcript of the content. No problem is flagged. It’s at the recipient’s end that we spot the issue. Initially the recipient sees the ellipsis icon, indicating that something is being typed or sent… but this carries on, and carries on, and eventually disappears. And at this point there is no indication that anything has been sent at all: no message, no message transcript, no message failed notification. In fact, if the recipient didn’t happen to have the app open, or had it open but was in a different conversation thread, they never would have known something was supposed to be on the way. This bug is new to me, and the first time I heard about it was when it was discussed on Monday in the blog run by Guilherme Rambo, a coding and engineering expert. Rambo, in turn, heard about the bug on the Search Engine podcast, which devoted its May 9 episode to the subject. Rambo reproduced the bug, guessed the problem must be at the recipient end, then plugged that device into his Mac and started looking at logs. And from that point it doesn’t appear to have taken long for him to work out what was going on: iOS’s transcription engine was recognizing the name of the U.S. restaurant chain, changing it to the correct corporate branding (“Dave & Buster’s,” with an all-important ampersand), and then passing that into the XHTML code used to send a transcript with the audio message. The problem isn’t being caused by the words Dave and Buster’s, but by the ampersand character between them, which has a special purpose in coding and prevents the code from being parsed correctly. The phrase “Dave and Buster’s” doesn’t cause a problem in the U.K. because iOS doesn’t add an ampersand (or even an apostrophe).David Price / Foundry As you can see in the image at the top of this story, a seemingly successfully sent audio iMessage ending with the phrase “Dave & Buster’s” appears as sent but never actually appears on the recipient’s phone. After a while, the audio message disappeared from the sender’s phone, and the recipient was completely unaware that the message had ever been sent. With that in mind, it’s a short leap to recognize that other brands could cause the same issue—they just haven’t been spotted doing so up to now. Rambo notes that “M&Ms” will do the same thing. For U.K. iPhone owners, in fact, “Dave and Buster’s” doesn’t trigger the bug because that chain is evidently not well enough known here and doesn’t get its ampersand added by autocorrect. To reproduce the issue, I had to ask a friend to send me a message about the supermarket chain M&S. Sure enough, this caused the hanging ellipsis followed by an unsent message. At the time of writing, it seems almost certain that any phrase iOS would recognize as containing an ampersand would cause an audio message to fail, and when I put it like that, it’s surprising the bug hasn’t been more widely reported. But here’s what happens when a U.K. user tries to send a message about the supermarket chain M&S, complete with ampersand.Karen Haslam / Foundry On the plus side, one would imagine it’s a bug that should be easy to patch in an iOS update. The transcription feature in Messages simply needs to be told to “escape” special characters so they don’t mess up the parsing process. And as Rambo notes, this isn’t a bug with any security vulnerabilities; indeed, it shows Apple’s BlastDoor mechanism working correctly. “Many bad parsers would probably accept the incorrectly-formatted XHTML,” he writes, “but that sort of leniency when parsing data formats is often what ends up causing security issues. By being pedantic about the formatting, BlastDoor is protecting the recipient from an exploit that would abuse that type of issue.”