By Chris Sawin
| Published 27 seconds ago

The main appeal of Hoppers was that it was co-written and directed by Daniel Chong. Chong created We Bare Bears for Cartoon Network, which was the last CN show I really obsessed over after the likes of Adventure Time and Regular Show ended. Interestingly enough, Chong spent six years on the entirety of We Bare Bears (four seasons and 140 episodes), and Hoppers (a single 100-minute film) also took six years to create. The spinoff We Baby Bears is currently airing on Cartoon Network, which Chong executive produces.

The animated sci-fi comedy film is written by Daniel Chong and Jesse Andrews (Elio, Luca). Chong has actually been working for Pixar on and off since 2008, as a storyboard artist on Bolt, Cars 2, and Inside Out, and as part of the senior creative team on Turning Red, Lightyear, Elemental, Inside Out 2, Elio, and the upcoming Toy Story 5 and Incredibles 3.

How Hoppers Sets Up Its Fuzzy Story

Hoppers follows Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda), who struggles with anger and cares for animals. After attempting to free her school’s classroom animals, she is dropped off at her grandmother’s, where she finds a peaceful glade in the forest. Mabel returns to this relaxing, safe spot whenever overwhelmed.

Today, Mabel is 19. The mayor of Beaverton, Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm), intends to demolish the glade to finish building a highway that will shave several minutes off Beaverton drivers’ commutes. All the animals have mysteriously left the glade, prompting Mabel to seek help from her college professor, Dr. Samantha Fairfax (Kathy Najimy).

Mabel discovers that Dr. Fairfax has developed a technology called hopping, which allows a human to transfer their consciousness into a robot animal of their choosing. Mabel forces her way into the body of a robot beaver and seeks counsel with King George (Bobby Moynihan), a fellow beaver and king of the land animals. Mabel’s plan is to bring the animals back to the glade in order to keep Mayor Jerry from building the highway, but things are much more complicated than she realizes.

A Stunning Visual Achievement

Hoppers is so gorgeous to look at. The visuals are similar to those of The Angry Birds Movies (two of the funniest animated films of the 2010s, by the way), where beaver fur looks so fluffy that you want to reach out and pet it, human hair is ridiculously detailed, and grass looks far too realistic for its own good. The idea of the eyes changing depending on whether we can understand them is a lot of fun, even if Brother Bear did it better. The subtle Back to the Future references (Mabel calling Dr. Fairfax “Doc” while being in a panic, the van chase on the skateboard, and the camera placement during that sequence) are certainly appreciated, as well.

The way the film highlights the preciousness of a tranquil space is extraordinary. Having somewhere to escape everyday noise that is both quiet and calm, and that just naturally exists, is a rare, wonderful thing. The more adventurous aspects of the storyline are the most entertaining aspects of Hoppers. When the film starts introducing the king council with the other animal kings, the apex predator, and what happens to Jerry in the second half of the film are some of the film’s most amusing moments. The car sequence where Loaf (Eduardo Franco), Mabel, King George, and Tom Lizard (Tom Law) talk to Jerry via text-to-speech on Jerry’s phone is the funniest and most memorable.

Hoppers Pushes The Idea That Animals Have The Same Rights As Humans

Hoppers is written somewhat awkwardly. The film revolves heavily around doing what’s best for the environment and seeks what’s best for animals since their rights are just as important as human rights. If you feel that way towards animals, you probably won’t have an issue with it, but the concept is thrown into a standstill game of tug-of-war between Mabel and Jerry, two extremely selfish and unlikeable human characters.

There’s an argument about the film’s suitability for children. Hoppers treats a gruesome death as comic relief. I think the sequence is great and unexpected, but some might find it problematic. A Pixar film lacking the usual emotional gut punch and a likable main character is also unusual.

Mabel uses the animals, particularly the trust of King George, to get what she wants while hiding the fact that she’s actually human. Jerry is using shady tactics to keep the animals away from the glade to build the highway and maintain his “mayor of the people” reputation, which he hopes to celebrate at a political rally originally scheduled for after the highway’s completion. It’s an eco-friendly message in the hands of two individuals you don’t really have any emotional investment in.

Is This Just Avatar In A Pixar Suit?

The film has drawn many comparisons to Avatar, which Hoppers references in the actual film as soon as the hopping technology is introduced. But Hoppers also has a lot in common with The Wild Robot, which is a far superior animated film. Looking past its lack of emotional connection with its audience and its sci-fi body-swap concept, the main comparisons lie in Mabel’s initial introduction as a beaver, when she suddenly understands animal dialogue, and in the forest’s suffering during the film’s resolution.

Hoppers is fun and is probably Pixar’s best film since Turning Red (I’m not an Inside Out fan, but that’s another article), but it’s also being overhyped by its marketing. It’s cute with some beautiful animation and a few chuckle-worthy moments, but it is not “the funniest Pixar film ever.” Tom Lizard, the character who blew up on TikTok after being featured in the Hoppers teaser trailer attached to Elio, is only in the film for a handful of minutes.

Beautiful Animation And A Clunky Story

Hoppers is fantastically animated, with some impressively high comedic moments, but its clunky story and funky exploration of morality keep it from being one of the Pixar greats.

Hoppers is now playing in theaters. Despite its flaws, it’s still recommended viewing.

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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 29 seconds ago

Every now and then, I watch a double feature of movies completely by accident. Not that long ago, for example, I stumbled on two films featuring drag queens fighting undead monsters. The first was Queens of the Dead, which featured some bigger names (like muscle mommy Katy O’Brian) and was directed by George Romero’s daughter, Tina. The second was Slay (2024), a low-budget, direct-to-streaming video featuring a handful of RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants I had never heard of.

Considering that it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, featured a couple of my favorite actors, and had the Romero name attached, I thought I would enjoy Queens of the Dead more, but I found the movie to be poorly paced, too preachy, and short on both humor and frights. Meanwhile, Slay proved to be a lo-fi delight full of hilarious moments, shocking scares, and surprisingly solid characterization. If you’re looking for a transgressive horror movie that’s perfect to watch with a few friends and a few beers, you can now stream this Tubi original, completely for free.

Slay, Queen

The premise of Slay is that a group of drag queens is touring the country and is excited to perform at their next venue, which is supposed to be a legendary gay bar. Due to a mix-up, however, they show up at a redneck bar in the middle of nowhere, one filled with bikers and hillbillies who don’t cotton to drag shows. Before the two groups can tear each other apart, though, they must band together to fight an entirely new threat: a group of vampires intending to feed on the entire bar, one victim at a time.

Unless you’re a big fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race, you may not recognize most of the stars of Slay. The film features several competitors from that show, including Trinity the Tuck, Heidi N Closet, and Crystal Method; the film also stars Cara Melle, a veteran of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Aside from these performers, the biggest name in the movie is Neil Sandilands, who is best known for Sweet Tooth, but superhero fans may best remember him as The Thinker from CW’s The Flash. 

A Movie Worth Sinking Your Teeth Into

Rather than getting a theatrical release, Slay was created by Tubi and released directly to their free streaming platform. Most who have watched the movie agree that it’s a great addition to the streamer’s growing library of free content, and one that effectively adds value for consumers. Tubi is already the perfect platform for watching a mind-boggling number of classic movies and shows without paying a subscription fee; now, on top of that, you get a steady flow of original programming that you can’t find anywhere else.

Slay is far enough under the radar that few professional reviewers have commented on it, but on Rotten Tomatoes, all of the critics who have watched it recommend it. In general, the critics praised how the film packs major laughs and genuine scares, proving that you don’t need a big budget to create a killer horror film. Critics also praised this drag queen vampire thriller for easily integrating its important themes into the plot without ever getting overly preachy or overly sentimental.

A Campy Movie Worth Watching With Friends

That’s about where I landed on Slay: it’s far from a perfect film, but the simplicity of its premise gives it a lo-fi energy that perfectly accentuates the setting. We’re ultimately watching colorful characters (seriously, you don’t have to like drag performances to laugh at these over-the-top personalities) huddling together and trying to keep undead monsters from breaking into this hole-in-the-wall bar. Basically, if you enjoyed Night of the Living Dead, The Evil Dead, or Cabin in the Woods, you are likely to enjoy this simple, streamlined story.

One common criticism of Slay is that the primary performers are very obviously not trained actors, which is true, but that also contributes to the charm of the movie. More often than not, the characters’ fun chemistry and delightfully silly dialogue are enough to carry any given scene. But the occasional weird line read or bizarre acting choice only accentuates the campy charisma of this modern-day B-movie, which should really resonate with anyone who grew up watching cheesy VHS movies from the local home video store.

A Window Into Another World

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, Slay touches on important themes about acceptance, found family, and identity exploration without ever getting overly preachy. This, too, is part of the film’s charm: it never gets lost in the need to send a heavy-handed message (something that happened constantly in Queens of the Dead) and focuses instead on telling a great story. As the person watching, this gives you options: you can enjoy this film as a bold triumph of intersectional introspection, or you can enjoy it simply as a funny, raunchy romp about killing vampires, one staking at a time.

Will you agree that Slay is a hilariously transgressive horror hit, or will this film make you want to “drag” the remote over to change the channel? The only way to find out is to stream it today on Tubi. Should this film awaken your own need to adopt a drag name for yourself, let me be the first to warn you: “Buffy the Vampire Layer” is probably already taken!

Disneyland
Hazmat Incident Hospitalizes Five Staffers

Published
March 10, 2026
1:52 PM PDT

Miniseries are the best format to go for when you want a story that actually respects your time. No filler episodes. No we’ll deal with that next season. Just a beginning that grabs, a middle that tightens, and an ending that leaves you sitting there for a second because you feel like you lived with these people.

The point is to stay locked-in from episode one to the final scene. A lot of long shows don’t do that and I don’t appreciate that. Every character decision has to have weight. Every reveal should change the room. The acting should stay at a level where a single look can carry a whole conversation. That’s what adds substance to it all. So if you’ve ever wanted a miniseries you can recommend with confidence, no caveats, no requests to stick with it, this is that list.

10

‘Chernobyl’ (2019)

Image via HBO

Chernobyl makes you feel dread through the procedure of labs and radiation. Valery Legasov (Jared Harris) walks into a disaster where the enemy is invisible. The enemy is radiation, denial, bureaucracy and the series makes every delay feel like another sentence being handed out. Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skarsgård) starts as a political operator managing optics, and you watch him change as the scale of human cost becomes unavoidable. Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson) becomes the stubborn voice that keeps pushing truth through a system built to smother it.

The series stays perfect because it keeps showing the cost in concrete scenes: meters clicking, men stepping into areas they don’t understand, lives being traded for minutes of containment. You feel sick watching people argue about image while the damage spreads. The courtroom explanation at the end lands so hard because you’ve watched the lie evolve episode by episode. You finish it with anger and exhaustion, and you also feel that rare respect for a show that refuses to soften reality.

9

‘Mare of Easttown’ (2021)

Image via HBO

Mare of Easttown is the kind of crime story that cares about the town as much as the case. The show follows Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) as she moves through Easttown. She’s carrying grief but she is sharp with people, exhausted by everyone’s expectations, and yet still showing up because quitting would feel like abandoning the last piece of herself that works. The investigation hooks you, but the real pull is watching Mare navigate family wounds, local gossip, and the humiliations that stack up when everyone knows your history.

The series feels perfect not just because of Mare’s character but all the characters around her feel fully real. Lori Ross (Julianne Nicholson) gives you that friendship that looks solid until pressure tests it. Siobhan (Angourie Rice) brings the teenage anger and sadness that makes family scenes sting. The case stays tense. The emotional punch of the show comes from how much everyone is connected to everyone.

8

‘The Night Of’ (2016)

Image via HBO

The Night Of earns its place because it does not treat Naz Khan (Riz Ahmed) like a plot device who simply falls into trouble unlike many similar films/shows. Instead, it shows, step by step, how one impulsive night can become a total collapse of identity. The premise follows Naz taking his father’s cab, meeting Andrea, spending hours with her in a haze of excitement and nerves, and then he wakes up beside her murdered body with no clean memory of what happened. That setup is already terrifying, but what makes the series exceptional is how honestly it follows the consequences.

John Stone (John Turturro), defense attorney, walks in and takes control and he is messy, distracted, physically uncomfortable, and constantly underestimated, which makes his investment in Naz matter more. Detective Box (Bill Camp) is even better because he is not sensationalized either. He keeps working the case, keeps noticing inconsistencies, and keeps making the viewer sit with uncertainty instead of offering easy answers. Inside Rikers, the series becomes even harder to shake off because it pays attention to what imprisonment does before any verdict is reached. Naz changes his posture, his instincts, his face, and the way he measures danger. That is why The Night Of feels so complete. It is a murder mystery, a legal drama, and a prison story, but more than that, it is a brutal examination of how accusation alone can permanently alter a life.

7

‘The Queen’s Gambit’ (2020)

Image via Netflix

The Queen’s Gambit is flawless because Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) is never reduced to a genius girl who wins at everything cliché. The series is much smarter than that. It begins with Beth as an orphan learning chess in a basement from Mr. Shaibel (Bill Camp), and that foundation matters because the game becomes tied to order, control, and self-worth before she is even old enough to fully understand what she is building. The tranquilizers at the orphanage, the visualized chessboard on the ceiling, the speed at which she starts devouring strategy and patterns, all of it is presented as part gift and part damage. Beth is shown extraordinary, but she is also emotionally stunted, defensive, proud, and deeply vulnerable to isolation.

The series keeps raising the stakes in a way that keeps you hooked. There’s Alma Wheatley (Marielle Heller) as well who starts as a distant adoptive mother and gradually becomes a genuine companion, manager, and drinking partner, which gives their relationship real warmth and real sadness. Harry Beltik, Benny Watts (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), and eventually the larger American and Soviet chess circles, each one of them expose something Beth lacks, whether it is discipline, humility, or trust. Her loss to Borgov matters because it is not there to make her suffer for drama. It forces her to confront the fact that brilliance without stability has limits. That is why the finale lands so hard. Beth beating Borgov is satisfying, but the deeper victory is that she gets there without numbing herself into destruction.

6

‘Unbelievable’ (2019)

Image via Netflix

Unbelievable is brutal to watch and essential to watch because it shows how damage multiplies when people refuse to listen. Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever) reports an assault and immediately gets treated like a problem. The series makes that disbelief feel physical, interviews that twist her words, authority figures looking for reasons to dismiss her, the loneliness of being forced to defend your own reality. That early stretch is enraging because it’s so methodical and so believable.

Then the series shifts into investigation mode with detectives Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) and Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette). You finally see what competence and empathy look like in action. The procedural work stays tense, but the emotional core never leaves Marie. When the case comes together, you finally feel relief mixed with anger that it took so much suffering to get there. That emotional honesty is why it belongs on a perfect list.

5

‘Watchmen’ (2019)

Image via HBO

Watchmen had every reason to fall apart. It was continuing one of the most discussed stories in comics, and carrying the weight of expectation from readers, television audiences, and people ready to reject it on principle. Instead, it came out swinging with Angela Abar/Sister Night (Regina King), and from that point on it never lost control of itself. Angela is a fantastic lead. She is a cop, a mother, a survivor, and a woman carrying truths about her own life that even she does not fully understand at first. The mask culture, the White Night trauma, the murder of Judd Crawford, and the emergence of the Seventh Kavalry all give the opening episodes a mystery engine, but the series keeps proving it has more on its mind than clever reveals.

What makes it special is how confidently it ties personal revelation to historical reality. The Tulsa massacre is central to the story’s moral structure, and the episode centered on Will Reeves (Louis Gossett Jr)/Hooded Justice recontextualizes the entire mythology. Looking Glass (Tim Blake Nelson) gets a whole interior life instead of functioning as a quirky side character, and Adrian Veidt’s (Matthew Goode) thread somehow manages to be absurd, funny, and sinister at once. The Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) material is where most shows would have collapsed under the weight of their own ambition, but Watchmen handles it with discipline by grounding the revelation in Angela’s emotional experience. The result is a miniseries that is politically sharp, narratively daring, and surprisingly intimate. Watchmen does not survive its ambition. It justifies it.

4

‘When They See Us’ (2019)

Image via Netflix

When They See Us is one of the most emotionally punishing miniseries ever made, and it earns its power by staying close to human reality. Korey Wise (Jharrel Jerome) becomes the emotional anchor. The series makes you live inside what happens to him over time, fear, isolation, endurance, the slow theft of a life. Kevin Richardson (Asante Blackk), Raymond Santana Jr. (Marquis Rodriguez), Antron McCray (Caleel Harris), and Yusef Salaam (Ethan Herisse) all carry different forms of trauma, and the show makes sure you feel each one as personal.

The series feels perfect because it refuses to reduce the story to a case. Families strain, identities warp, time passes, and the damage keeps echoing. You watch adults shape a narrative and then watch the world treat that narrative like truth because it’s convenient. The later episodes hit hard and keep you hooked because they show how long it takes to rebuild anything after public destruction. You finish it wrecked and furious, and you also feel a kind of respect for how carefully it was made.

3

‘Dopesick’ (2021)

Image via Hulu

This miniseries feels perfect because it keeps shifting perspectives while staying coherent: doctors, patients, investigators, lawyers, executives. Dopesick hits like a slow horror story because you watch a crisis get engineered in real time. Dr. Samuel Finnix (Michael Keaton) starts as a caring small-town doctor, and the series shows the exact moment his trust gets exploited. Betsy Mallum (Kaitlyn Dever) turns the epidemic into a person you can’t forget. Her pain, her hope, her relapse cycles, the way addiction rewrites priorities. The corporate side is chilling too. It feels so casual: sales tactics dressed as medicine, data manipulated, human suffering treated as a numbers problem.

Every thread adds pressure. You feel anger building because the harm is preventable, and you keep watching because the show shows you the chain of decisions clearly. The courtroom and investigation material is satisfying because it shows people fighting back with evidence and persistence, but the emotional weight stays on the communities that got gutted.

2

‘Black Bird’ (2022)

Image via Apple TV

Black Bird is built on conversations, and that sounds simple until you see how much tension it generates from two men sitting across from each other. Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) is offered a brutal bargain: enter a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane, get close to suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), and extract the truth before an appeal might set Hall free.

The series immediately understands what makes that premise frightening. Jimmy is not an investigator trained for this job. He is a man with charisma, ego, and survival instincts, trying to improvise his way through an environment where one wrong move could get him killed or exposed. Every interaction with Larry has stakes because Jimmy has to appear open without looking manipulative, curious without looking desperate. Black Bird works so well because it never loses discipline. It knows the dread comes from behavior. The relief is there at the end, but so is the nausea, because the show has made you sit close to evil without ever making it feel artificial.

1

‘Station Eleven’ (2021–2022)

Image via HBO Max

Station Eleven takes the top spot because it’s the rare miniseries that feels emotionally complete on every level. The premise follows Kirsten Raymonde (Mackenzie Davis). She moves through a post-pandemic world with purpose and scars. The show spotlights her childhood trauma and the way she clings to art as survival. Jeevan Chaudhary (Himesh Patel) becomes the emotional anchor. His relationship with Kirsten is built through responsibility and love. The timeline shifts keep revealing new layers of the same people, and you start seeing how the past keeps shaping the choices everyone makes years later.

The series feels perfect because it respects grief and hope at the same time. It shows devastation without turning it into spectacle, and it shows community without pretending it’s easy. The Traveling Symphony works as a concept because the characters make it feel necessary: performing as a way to stay human. Therefore, the Station Eleven comic becomes a shared language for survival and meaning. Station Eleven is designed to leave you feeling calm and wrecked and grateful, because it makes you believe people can carry trauma and still build something beautiful.

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Station Eleven

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Release Date

2021 – 2022-00-00

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Network

HBO Max

Directors

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Hiro Murai, Helen Shaver, Jeremy Podeswa, Lucy Tcherniak

Writers

Patrick Somerville, Sarah McCarron, Kim Steele, Cord Jefferson, Nick Cuse

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By TeeJay Small
| Published 24 seconds ago

If you’re a big fan of FX’s The Bear, but you don’t have 30 hours to spend binge-viewing it, you might be better off just watching 2015’s Burnt, starring Bradley Cooper. It’s effectively the same kitchen confidential, complete with a temperamental chef who loves to scream at his employees, minus some of the unnecessary side plots about unresolved family trauma, making it impossible to cook linguine. The film, which is currently streaming for free on Plex, managed to go largely under the radar upon release, possibly due to the studio’s complete mismanagement when getting it into theaters.

Burnt was written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and directed by John Wells. Wells is best known as an executive producer and showrunner of such hit programs as ER, The West Wing, Shameless, and The Pitt. Bradley Cooper portrays the irascible Michelin star recipient Adam Jones, who loses it all in the first act after tearing his kitchen apart in a drug-induced rage. Already, we’re seeing shades of Jon Bernthal’s Mikey from The Bear, here.

After undergoing a self-imposed exile and maintaining his sobriety, Jones decides to get the band back together, with the intention of earning a coveted three-star title from Michelin. Over the course of the film, we’re introduced to a variety of new and returning kitchen staff, each of whom shares their reservations about working with this maniac in another restaurant environment. One by one, they’re won over by Jones’ claims that he’s changed, or his incredible food, or his passion for the art of charging four figures for a deconstructed bowl of soup.

Once they finally get things up and running, there’s a disastrous opening night. A skilled editor could easily combine the opening night scene from Burnt with multiple episodes of The Bear, and they would blend seamlessly. After roughly 90 minutes of kitchen jargon, shouting about reviews from food critics, and an emphasis on the staff’s nightly family meal, we learn that the true art behind cooking isn’t feeding families; it’s addressing why chefs are all out of their minds.

Burnt is a fun, if imperfect movie, which can help to shed some light on a high-stress kitchen environment if you’ve never worked in one. Unfortunately, it failed to take off and capture hearts in the way that The Bear or even Chef (2014) have. That might be because The Weinstein Company fumbled the film’s release so badly that many fans couldn’t keep up with the release schedule in the first place.

After initially advertising a wide release on October 2, 2015, the production studio delayed the theatrical premiere by several weeks. At the last minute, the studio pivoted without warning and reduced the total number of screens for a limited premiere. Then, they inexplicably cancelled the limited premiere, only to push the official release of Burnt by yet another week, just in case there were any potential fans still keeping up at home. In the end, Burnt still managed to eke out a profit, but didn’t become a cultural phenomenon in its day.

In 2026, the film is best remembered as a prototype for The Bear. Many fans have even taken to the web to ponder whether Burnt and The Bear exist within the same cinematic universe, especially since a still from the movie was used as background dressing in the FX series’ third season. If you’re obsessed with screaming chefs and you’ve exhausted your entire collection of Kitchen Nightmares and Bar Rescue DVDs, feel free to give Burnt a spin on Plex.

Great eyebrows never go out of style, and Kristie Streicher knows exactly how to get them right.

The celebrity brow artist counts Miley Cyrus, Adele, Emily Blunt, Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Mila Kunis among her loyal clients, and now she’s sharing her biggest dos and don’ts with ET.

For starters, The Nurtured Brow® creator says to do just that: take care of the eyebrows you were born with.

“Early in my career, I noticed that so many people were over-tweezed or chasing trends that didn’t suit their natural bone structure or growth pattern. I became more interested in restraint than removal and in what happens when you honor what’s already there instead of forcing something new,” she explains.

That approach eventually turned into her signature Strategic Tweezing method, a careful process that focuses on removing only what disrupts the natural architecture of the brow, while allowing it to grow back into its most balanced shape.

“It’s about preservation as much as precision,” she shares.

The result? Brows that perfectly frame the face.

“I would describe my work as effortless, refined, and authentic. … Brows can change your entire expression, your confidence, and even how you carry yourself.”

So, it’s no surprise why celebrities continue to flock to her Beverly Hills, California beauty studio, STRIIIKE, for coveted appointments. 

“I think they love my technique because it feels like them, only elevated. It’s subtle, but powerful,” the beauty pro notes.

Even if you can’t make it in to see Streicher in person, you can still follow her A-list approved tips. The entrepreneur offers virtual consultations where she assesses your bone structure, growth pattern, and brow history before creating a custom plan tailored to you.

And one thing she always advises against is doing too much.

“Over-tweezing the front of the brow is a no. The front sets the entire tone of your face. When it’s too narrow, too harsh, or too sculpted, it changes your expression and can make you look harder, older, or permanently surprised,” she reveals.

Similarly, overfilling is another mistake Streicher sees often.

“Creating a shape that’s disconnected from the natural brow line can make the brow look too harsh or the arch look too exaggerated.”

Fortunately, fixing a brow blunder doesn’t have to be complicated thanks to her KS&CO line, loved by Ana de Armas, Jessica Biel, Olivia Wilde, Sarah Paulson, Chloe Fineman, and Mandy Moore.

“The Microfeathering® Pen is designed specifically to mimic real hair, so if someone has over-tweezed or has gaps, they can add believable strokes without creating a blocky shape,” she spills.

From there, use the Sheer Tinted Brow Gel to bring color, texture, fullness, and a flexible hold to the brow.

“Brush the brows upward and slightly outward. … If they feel sparse or flat, a light layer adds tone and movement without stiffness.”

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Valerie Bertinelli got candid about the work she had done to enhance her appearance..

Bertinelli, 65, opened up about getting a breast augmentation and experimenting with Botox in her new book, Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect, which was released on Tuesday, March 10.

In 2019, she “tried Botox” for the first time, but immediately knew it wasn’t for her. “I didn’t like it and had a mini freak-out when I saw it changed the shape of my eyebrows, which changed the shape of my face, which was a shock because my face is the way I recognize myself,” the actress recalled. “I didn’t like what I saw. I didn’t want to see a puffy, distorted version of me in the mirror. I didn’t want to wake up and say, ‘Knock knock, is Val there?’”

Bertinelli went on to say that she “didn’t want to look [her age]” and tried out “fillers and Botox” in her 50s. “I was doing battle against puffy eyes, jowls, saggy skin — basically looking my age.” She noted that she wanted to look “younger” and “not so tired” but wasn’t sure what “age [she] wanted to look.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I am not against plastic surgery or Botox and fillers,” she added. “Some people look amazing when it works. They feel much better about themselves after a procedure. I get it — and I’ve been there.”

When it comes to going under the knife, Bertinelli opened up about having a “complicated relationship” with her breasts. “Mine were mocked relentlessly. They were called ‘little quarters,’ ‘itty-bitty titties,’ and ‘tiny boobies,” she shared. “I took it all to heart. Instead of appreciating the changes my body was going through, I dreaded them. I had no idea what I was supposed to look like; I only knew it was wrong.”

Bertinelli then got breast implants, but never wanted to “put them on display.” She shared candid details about her “old implants,” which she described as “ostrich eggs, hard and crusted over.” 
If a breast implant ruptures, it can cause pain, hardening of the implants and lumps.

“I couldn’t believe they had been in my body,” she wrote. “I went home bandaged and sore, with drains under my arms, uncomfortable but hopeful. For the first two weeks, everything was great. About a week later, my right breast took on shades of green, yellow, and blue. The next day it started to swell and turned a dark purple. I felt myself getting dizzy. By nighttime, I was running a fever.”

She shared that her “right breast” needed “six months to heal? the infection” and “grow back the missing tissue.” Months later, Bertinelli got a third surgery to install “another small implant under the muscle” to restore “what was left of [her] nipple.” Bertinelli shared that it took a year for her “boobs [to take] shape.”

“They are now two completely different sizes; the implant on the left is over the muscle, and my right side is sad and misshapen,” she explained. “Eventually I will have a fourth operation that will, I am assured, even things out once and for all.”

UPDATE — 3/10/26, 9:59 a.m. ET: The domestic assault case against New England Patriots star Christian Barmore has been dismissed.

The case was deemed “not viable for prosecution,” Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said during a hearing on Monday, March 9. 

“It was a delayed complaint and the victim had mixed emotions about whether she wanted to go forward,” Quinn told reporters outside the courthouse. 

Quinn added that the alleged victim now permanently lives out of state and was unwilling to return to Massachusetts in order to testify.  

“I‘m looking at the case as I would in any situation,” Quinn said about the decision to dismiss the charges. “He obviously may have more to lose than other people, given his position, but that has nothing to do in terms of viewing the merits of the case.”

Original story below:

New England Patriots star Christian Barmore will not have to face charges of domestic assault until after his team plays in the Super Bowl.

Barmore’s arraignment date has been moved to March 9, court records show. The NFL player’s attorney requested the delay on Friday, January 23, according to The Boston Globe. 

The defensive tackle was originally due to appear for an arraignment on February 3, five days before the Patriots play the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday, February 8. 

Barmore, 26, was charged with one count of assault and battery on a family/household member, according to court documents obtained by Us Weekly last month. 

The alleged assault happened in August 2025, when Barmore allegedly got into an argument with the mother of his 2-year-old daughter at Barmore’s Mansfield, Massachusetts home. 

The woman claimed Barmore “threw her to the floor” during the disagreement, and then allegedly “grabbed her by the shirt in the area of her neck” when she attempted to get up. 

As she was attempting to leave Barmore’s home, the woman claimed Barmore “rushed at her but didn’t make any contact.”

“[She] said her daughter tried to jump into her arms when this happened and believed that is the only reason [Barmore] didn’t touch her,” the court documents said.

After news broke of the allegations against Barmore, his attorney issued a statement denying the charges.

“We are confident that the evidence will demonstrate that no criminal conduct took place,” attorney David Meier said. “Based on the facts and the law, we expect that this personal matter will be resolved in the near future and both parties will move forward together.”

The Patriots organization also issued a statement about Barmore, saying they “were made aware at the time of the incident and informed the NFL in a timely manner.”

“The matter remains part of an ongoing legal process,” the statement continued. “We will respect that process, continue to monitor the situation closely, as we have over the past few months, and cooperate fully with the league. We will have no further comment at this time.” 

Barmore’s case has similarities to the allegations made against Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who is facing a felony charge of strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of assault from an alleged incident at his home on December 2. 

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Diggs, 32, allegedly strangled his private chef over a dispute about her finances. 

He was originally set to be arraigned on January 23 — two days before the Patriots played the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game — but the court date was later moved to February 13, five days after the Super Bowl. 

Diggs has denied the charges against him and received the backing of the Patriots organization. 

“We support Stefon,” the team said in the statement. “We will continue to gather information and will cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities and the NFL as necessary. Out of respect for all parties involved, and given that this is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time.”

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 21 seconds ago

One of the reasons that fans are so excited about the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is that the original show was unlike anything else they had ever seen on television. It prominently featured a woman in a male-dominated genre (namely, demon slaying), and it did so through a killer combination of quippy comedy and heartpounding melodrama. Fans can’t help but be excited for the reboot because they are collectively asking the same question: “where else can I see something so well-written and innovative?”

As it turns out, you can see it on Netflix: the streamer is now showing Veronica Mars (2004), a noir detective show with a spunky female protagonist just as funny as everyone’s favorite Slayer. It remains one of the most highly-rated shows in television history, one that influenced countless other series while launching the career of Kristen Bell. If you’re ready to discover your new binge-worthy favorite while waiting for the Buffy reboot, then it’s past time you stream Veronica Mars on Netflix.

A Show That You Can’t Stop Watching

The premise of Veronica Mars is that the titular character is the daughter of a detective, and she solves mysteries of her own in the quirky town of Neptune, California. While she solves smaller cases (especially in Season 3), the show is mostly known for season-long mysteries, and part of the charm of watching is putting the clues together at the same time our plucky protagonist is doing so. Even if you don’t enjoy mystery shows all that much, Veronica Mars is perfectly entertaining because its tight scripts are filled with hilariously cynical comedy punctuated by moments of poignant, character-driven reflection.

The cast of Veronica Mars includes some amazing character actors, including Jason Dohring (best known outside this show for Deep Impact) as Veronica’s bad-boy boyfriend. Percy Daggs III (best known outside of this show for The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy) plays Veronica’s best friend and mystery-solving partner, while Enrico Colantoni (best known for Galaxy Quest) plays her father, a professional private investigator. Meanwhile, Francis Capra (best known for A Bronx Tale) plays a biker gang leader with a heart of gold.

The Bell Of The Ball

Everyone involved gives excellent performances, but nobody does it better than Kristen Bell, who instantly transforms Veronica Mars into one of television’s best characters. Veronica’s constantly a study in contradictions: her dainty beauty hides a tough-as-nails personality, just as her cynical humor hides a borderline manic urge to do the right thing. She’s fierce, funny, and fearless, serving as a worthy inheritor to the tough girl crown once worn so capably by Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

When Veronica Mars premiered, it was nothing short of a television sensation: showrunner Rob Thomas gambled that audiences would love a neo noir show from a female point of view, and he was completely right. The first season of the series was hailed as a critically-acclaimed masterpiece, and the show was nominated for prestigious awards, including four Saturn Awards. Following the show’s untimely cancellation after Season 3, sheer fan demand and a successful Kickstarter campaign helped it get a satisfying follow-up film, and a final fourth season would later air on Hulu.

Comedy That Leaves You Grinning

Veronica Mars put a new spin on an old genre, and reviewers longing for something new ate it up with a spoon. On Rotten Tomatoes, the show has a 92 percent rating, with critics praising the show for the whip-smart writing and amazing characterization that make this genre show a spiritual sequel to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They also singled out Kristen Bell, commending her for a career-making performance that showcased a full range of her prodigious talents as both a comedic and dramatic actor.

The critics were certainly right to single out Bell: she gives a singular performance here that helped launch one of the most rewardingly eclectic careers in Hollywood. If not for her success in Veronica Mars, she would likely never have starred as the titular character in the raunchy classic Forgetting Sarah Marshall, nor would she have headlined The Good Place, the tightest-written TV comedy since Community. Of course, it helped that Bell was so great right out of the gate: she was in her early ‘20s when the show started, but that didn’t keep her from acting circles around colleagues much older than her.

The high quality of Veronica Mars’ writing and acting helps elevate material that would otherwise have made far less of a cultural impact. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of neo noir, and the streaming era has taught me to really hate season-long mystery arcs. But this show makes both its noir theming and mysteries compelling through breezy humor and constant characterization, both of which will leave you watching episodes long after you should have gone to bed.

Time To Grab The Remote

Overall, Veronica Mars is sublime, offering rewarding stories that often transcend the medium itself. The mysteries in this show are worthy of great literature (eat your heart out, Raymond Chandler), and the characters are straight out of a high-end Broadway play. Finally, the epic scope of the season-long stories is just as compelling as any film, and mystery lovers should take note that Veronica Mars is head and shoulders better than the latest Knives Out movie.

Are you ready to embrace your inner gumshoe and dive into your new favorite show, or will you think it’s a mystery why everyone loves Veronica Mars? The only way to find out is to head home (wave down a friendly biker if you need a ride!) and stream this show on Netflix. Come for the killer theme song and stay for one of the most innovative new characters of the 21st century.