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By Robert Scucci
| Published 11 seconds ago

I have no issue admitting that when I write movie reviews, I spend some time on Wikipedia and IMDb because I am better with faces than names. I want to make sure I am getting the talent straight when I talk about the characters that talent is portraying, as well as refresh myself on the story. In the case of 1991’s Brain Twisters, however, I had to consult the internet just to figure out what story it was even trying to tell in the first place, because it really does not make any sense at all.

Conceptually, Brain Twisters has a cool R-rated premise, but it limps along like it is aiming for a PG-13 rating. It wants to be sexy, but there is no nudity. It wants to carry itself like a slasher, but there is no real violence. It wants to play out like a sci-fi mystery thriller, but instead feels like a made-for-TV crime drama about a computer program that forces people to go on murder sprees. At least, I think that is what it is going for.

None Of This Makes Sense On Any Level

From what intel I have gathered, I am not alone in my assessment of Brain Twisters. The main story centers on Dr. Philip Rothman (Terry Lenderee), a university professor who runs mind control experiments on student volunteers involving sensory deprivation tanks and a wall of televisions a la A Clockwork Orange. Then a string of murders happens, drawing the attention of Detective Frank Turi (Joe Lombardo), who becomes involved after one of Dr. Rothman’s students, Ted (Shura McComb), commits suicide. This somehow results in a custody battle over his corpse.

Dr. Rothman wants Ted’s head for research purposes, while Detective Frank is more concerned with figuring out whether Ted was involved in the murder of his girlfriend, Denise (Heather Ann Barclay). As the film slowly meanders along, we learn that Dr. Rothman’s experiments are emitting radio waves, or something close to that, which cause his students to kill each other or themselves.

The problem is that Dr. Rothman is apparently unaware of this side effect because the software company financing his experiments never disclosed that information to him. This explanation immediately collapses under scrutiny, since he spends most of the second and third acts behaving in an increasingly unhinged and openly evil manner that suggests he knows exactly what is happening.

Meanwhile, student Laurie Stevens (Farrah Forke) becomes romantically involved with Detective Frank after he cooks her boxed spaghetti, while her promiscuous friend Michelle (Donna Bostany) attempts to seduce Dr. Rothman in exchange for a better grade. That is it. That is the whole movie.

Not Even Charming In A Shlocky Way

When I seek out movies like Brain Twisters, I genuinely try to identify their redeeming qualities. I have devoted an unthinkable number of hours to scraping the bottom of the Rotten Tomatoes barrel and logging onto Tubi in search of hidden or underappreciated gems that were not fully understood at the time of their initial release. More often than not, I am pleasantly surprised, and I report my findings here in case anyone else wants to check out something that was not on their radar but still fits their taste. It ain’t much, but it is honest work.

Brain Twisters, however, has no redeeming qualities, and it rightfully earns its seven percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It is barely sci-fi, barely horror, and does not even have enough schlock to give it the kind of B-movie charm that lets you appreciate it as a diamond in the rough. Second-rate production values can be forgiven if there is a compelling story underneath them.The unfortunate truth about Brain Twisters is that there is not.

If you want to see what Brain Twisters is all about, you can stream it for free on Tubi. Or you can jam toothpicks under your fingernails if you are looking for a more productive way to spend your time.

Drake Maye’s wife, Ann Michael Maye, is ready to watch his New England Patriots take on the Seattle Seahawks on the Super Bowl LX stage.

“Super Bowl weekend off to a good start!” Ann Michael, 22, wrote via Instagram on Friday, February 6, sharing a pic of her all-denim outfit as she sipped on a matcha beverage in San Francisco, California.

In other images, Ann Michael hung out with fellow Patriots partner Ashlynn Nussmeier for dinner out on the town.

“Love yaaaa!! 💓,” Nussmeier, who is dating Drake’s teammate Will Campbell, wrote in the comments section.

Ann Michael later met up with Drake, 23, for a round of mahjong.

Drake was drafted by the Patriots in 2024. After his standout sophomore 2025-2026 season, the quarterback led his team to victory in the 2026 AFC Championship game in January.

“WE ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!❤️💙❤️💙 Words can’t even begin to describe how proud I am of you, #10!!!!” Ann Michael wrote via Instagram last month. “Watching your dreams come true is the biggest blessing and I love you!!!!!”

Drake and his teammates traveled to San Francisco earlier this week, preparing to take on the Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, February 8.

“I think winning helps and just buying into the same beliefs as each other,” Drake said in a Thursday, February 5, press conference about reaching the NFL championship. “What Coach Vrabel is trying to accomplish, I think from day one, I feel like the guys have really took what Coach Vrabel has wanted to do with us and have just really applied it to their lives in every singe way — whether it’s on the field, off the field, getting treatment or doing little things.”

Drake continued, “Coach Vrabel always says he treats us how we treat the team, and I think that’s how guys have taken this year. [We] rallied together and want to play for each other, and from there, we have fun doing it every single day. It’s been a ride and looking forward to trying to finish it off.”

Throughout his NFL tenure, Drake has had the support of his better half. Drake and Ann Michael began dating in middle school, ultimately getting married in summer 2025.

“It’s one of the best things I’ve experienced in my life,” Drake said in a pre-Super Bowl press conference on Monday, February 2, about his marriage. “There’s no better feeling than coming home to a wife that loves you and cares for you.”

He continued at the time, “I know my teammates, some of them are experiencing different parts of their life. I chose to get married young, and I don’t regret it one bit.”

Ann Michael is also a fixture in the crowds at Drake’s games, often dressed to the nines in custom team gear like the bespoke A/Asunsolo patchwork coat from the AFC title matchup.

“I just started cutting it up and placing it where I think it looks aesthetically pleasing,” designer Aaron Asunsolo told the Boston Globe last month of making Ann Michael’s coat. “We were excited. We knew something was bubbling … but I didn’t know how big it would be. Lately, I’ve been very excited about sports.”

There was a stretch of time when a Matthew McConaughey movie felt less like an event and more like a coin toss you were probably going to lose. Rom-coms, half-baked adventures, and paycheck gigs piled up, often coasting on his grin and easygoing swagger rather than strong material. Then came The Lincoln Lawyer — the movie that figured out exactly how to weaponize that swagger, from the creator of Bosch.

In the 2011 legal thriller, McConaughey plays Mick Haller, a slick Los Angeles defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car. He’s not the kind of lawyer with a fancy downtown office, but he knows the system inside and out, greasing the wheels with clerks, bailiffs, and courtroom regulars who help keep his cases moving. Where The Lincoln Lawyer separates itself from your average courtroom procedural is in how it turns the legal system into a trap for its own hero. Mick prides himself on knowing every angle of the law, but that expertise starts to box him in once he realizes he may be defending a truly guilty man.

The cast also includes the likes of Ryan Phillippe as Louis Roulet, Marisa Tomei as Maggie McPherson, William H. Macy as Frank Levin, John Leguizamo as Val Valenzuela, Bryan Cranston as Detective Lankford, and Shea Whigham as Jesus Martinez.

Is ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Worth Watching?

Collider’s review stated that The Lincoln Lawyer succeeded largely because McConaughey finally found a role that played to his strengths, turning a familiar legal thriller into a slick, entertaining ride. As fast-talking defense attorney Mick Haller, who works out of the back of his Lincoln, McConaughey’s natural charm and swagger energized a story that might otherwise have felt routine.

“McConaughey owns the film, but the majority of the supporting cast is equally terrific. I can’t believe it, but after MacGruber and now this, I’m starting to become a fan of Ryan Phillippe. He holds his own against McConaughey and clearly is having some fun playing the villain without chewing the scenery. McConaughey’s giant grinning mug on a movie poster is usually a warning sign, but The Lincoln Lawyer finally offers him a character that suits his irascible persona in a way that feels fresh and exciting. Let’s hope it doesn’t take McConaughey another ten years to find a leading role that plays to his strengths.”

The Lincoln Lawyer is streaming for free on Tubi.

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Release Date

March 17, 2011

Runtime

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119 minutes

Writers

Michael Connelly, John Romano

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Producers

Gary Lucchesi, Richard S. Wright, Sidney Kimmel, Tom Rosenberg, Scott Steindorff

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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 1 minute ago

“Crazy thing is, it’s true,” Han Solo memorably utters in The Force Awakens. “The Force, the Jedi, all of it. It’s true.” To a younger generation of would-be heroes, this smuggler legend was casually confirming that the most fantastic tales they had heard about space wizards and magical energy fields were completely true.

Ironically, though, the actors behind your favorite Star Wars characters typically have the opposite experience: fans have developed so many tall tales about the production of these iconic films that the stars spend their whole lives trying to debunk various myths. For Mark Hamill, the biggest myth in question is that he accidentally blurts out Carrie Fisher’s first name in the penultimate scene of the first Star Wars movie. Fortunately, the Jedi Master has taken to social media on many occasions to explain what really happened and why so many fans are wrong about this iconic scene.

Brother And Sister Hug It Out

The scene in question occurs after Luke Skywalker successfully blows up the Death Star, saving the Rebels and, by extension, countless billions of lives. Back on Yavin IV, he hops out of his X-Wing and fiercely hugs Princess Leia. At this point, Luke says something that fans have been debating about for nearly half a century.

You see, many fans are absolutely convinced that he blurts out “Carrie,” calling his costar by her first name rather than her character’s name. If true, this would mean that there is an insanely blatant mistake hidden (and not hidden very well) in the most influential blockbuster ever made. Furthermore, it’s a mistake that would make Mark Hamill look bad for making it and make director George Lucas look bad for not actually catching it.

A Smuggler And Secret Hugger

However, Hamill is adamant that he never said the word “Carrie.” Previously, the Star Wars icon has taken to the social media platform X to set the record straight. According to him, he says “there she” (a partial phrase, as in “there she is”) before he is cut off. He also told the fans who think that he says “Carrie” that this is absurd because 1) the lines were dubbed, so it’s not like he suddenly flubbed anything during filming, and 2) George Lucas would have instantly caught such an error. 

Normally, the mystery would end there; Hamill is the man who said the line, and he would know better than any fan what did or did not happen on set. However, even with the actor’s correction, many Star Wars fans admit that what Luke Skywalker is saying doesn’t really sound like “there she.” Among these skeptical fans, the general consensus is that Luke is saying something more monosyllabic, like “hey,” or giving an excited shriek.

Dazed, But Not Confused

Ironically, the fact that this line is so hard to make out is a big part of why this lie about Mark Hamill has stayed alive so long. It’s all about the power of suggestion: since the line in the final film isn’t very clear, it’s easy for pranksters to tell gullible fans, “here’s what he really said.” Those fans are likely to believe the tale and spread it to others because, no matter how many times they rewatch the scene, it’s difficult to independently confirm what the actor is saying.

As for us, though, we’re more than content to take Mark Hamill’s word for what he said while shooting this legendary film. Hopefully, we’ve done our own small part to destroy the lie that has been vexing the actor for nearly 50 years. Should that lie come back to life like Palpatine, though, we’ll just have to leave its fate in the hands of the Jedi Master!  

In the 80s, TV was ruled by action series with cool heroes, from Magnum P.I. and Miami Vice, to The A-Team and Simon and Simon. The most unique of all was MacGyver, starring Richard Dean Anderson as the titular protagonist. A member of the Phoenix Foundation, MacGyver spent every week on ABC battling various bad guys by using his brains instead of violence, which often saw him escaping capture with nothing more than normal items like a paperclip and a piece of gum. MacGyver was the last name of the hero, and that’s all he went by for the first six seasons, with his first name unknown. However, that was finally revealed in a bizarre Season 7 episode, but if it had been up to producer Henry Winkler, Mac would have had a different moniker.

Henry Winkler Wanted MacGyver’s First Name To Be Stacey

Richard Dean Anderson was the star of MacGyver, but he wasn’t the most notable name involved. That distinction went to Henry Winkler (yes, the Fonz himself), who got a production deal with ABC and Paramount after Happy Days went off the air. This led to him being an executive producer of MacGyver, which debuted in 1985. For every season until the last, MacGyver’s first name was kept a mystery. Then came Season 7, where the decision was made to reveal who he really was.

In an interview with MacGyver Online, Anderson recalled how the first name came to be. “We didn’t have a first name for him for the longest time, and Henry tried to straight-out name him after his wife. It was Stace for a while, but that just didn’t fly.” Instead of MacGyver being Stacey, in honor of Stacey Weitzman, it ended up being Anderson who found the first name when he attended a show honoring police and firefighters in Vancouver.

“It was at a big stadium and there was a huge LED board screen that was flashing what I think was the mayor’s name – Angus Reid. I got mesmerised by it and realised that had to be MacGyver’s first name. I ran it past our executive producer and his jaw dropped. It was the perfect name – Scottish and proper.”

MacGyver’s Name Was Revealed as Angus in a Season 7 Episode

In November 1991, MacGyver aired a two-part episode over consecutive weeks called “Good Knight MacGyver”. The play on words had a double meaning, because not only would Mac’s life be in danger again, but this is where the audience learned more of the backstory behind the show’s hero. After years of characters asking his first name here and there, and MacGyver only offering that he didn’t like it, Part 2 of “Good Night MacGyver,” which aired on November 11, 1991, went for it.

Part I, airing the week before, was a strange one, as MacGyver finds out more about how his ancestors were treated in the Middle Ages. When he’s knocked out, he has a dream that takes him back to the era of King Arthur. He then sets out to find his family and battle knights in an episode unlike any other. Part 2 has MacGyver fighting alongside the wizard Merlin. He finally meets one of his descendants, a Scotsman named Ian M’Iver (William H. Bassett), who has a child named Angus. It’s then that MacGyver acknowledges Angus is his first name too. In an era before the internet and leaks being the norm, viewers were shocked by the unusual selection. Anderson told MacGyver Online, “Yeah, I don’t think it got sprung anywhere.” But does it work?

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Angus Fit the Unique Protagonist of ‘MacGyver’

Image via ABC

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Although MacGyver’s first name is finally given to the audience, the series didn’t change. In the second half of MacGyver‘s seventh and last season, he still went by his famous last name. Angus comes back around though in the series finale, “The Mountain of Youth”, when a twist ending introduces Sean Malloy (Dalton James), the son of MacGyver. And what’s his middle name? Angus, of course. He has the same resourceful nature and love for adventure like his father does, signifying that MacGyver’s efforts will live on in some way.

Angus is certainly a weird name to give MacGyver, but that’s why it works. It fits because Mac is a bit of an eccentric genius. WIth his mullet and good looks, he seems like any other guy, yet his actions prove otherwise. MacGyver is a selfless man who feels deeply and cares about saving others above all else. Imagine if MacGyver got to the pivotal moment, only to name their hero something like Ron or Jeff. What’s so memorable about that? He’s a unique character who required a unique first name. Angus MacGyver fits perfectly.

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