Nerds need to stop clamoring for their favorite shows from yesteryear to come back.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 35 seconds ago

It’s no secret that The X-Files debuted at the perfect time. Even as the show built off the public’s increasing fascination with conspiracies and cover-ups, it became a sensation on the nascent World Wide Web, with early online fandom helping to shape the direction of the show. I was part of that early fandom, and nobody was more excited than I was when The X-Files was brought back for a television revival in 2016. However, the awful quality of these two new seasons taught me an invaluable lesson: nerds need to stop clamoring for their favorite shows from yesteryear to come back.

The revival of The X-Files didn’t happen in a vacuum. It was part of a glut of television revivals that included everything from Full House to Frasier. For another thing, it was part of the depressing entertainment industry trend where seemingly every new show or film must be a sequel, prequel, spinoff, or revival. That trend is here to stay because audiences generally enjoy returning to their favorite IPs (think of it as entertainment comfort food), but the middling X-Files revival is proof that some of our favorites need to stay in the past, untouchable perfect and preserved in the amber of nostalgia.

From Return To Form To Retcon Disaster

At first, the X-Files revival seemed like a return to form. After all, for fans who remembered how Mulder was completely absent for the last season and a half of the show, it was great to see David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson back onscreen in something other than the lackluster series finale or the bizarrely plodding sequel film The X-Files: I Want To Believe. But it didn’t take long for the revival to bring back dead characters, undo classic stories, and generally turn the franchise into something the Flukeman would swim through on his way out of the toilet.

The result was the worst of both worlds … a revival that made much of what came before meaningless even as it introduced new stories that quickly became all-time series lows. Did we really need more Scully pregnancy drama or the bizarre revelation that her son William was secretly Mulder’s half-brother? Instead of reigniting fans’ passion for the earlier seasons, the revival merely reminded us of what a mixed bag The X-Files really was when it came to consistency and quality.

You Can’t Recapture Lightning In A Bottle

Once I made peace with the failures of this revival, I began to realize that The X-Files was not a unique failure. In fact, its failure was as inevitable as change itself. The actors, creators, and fans had changed quite a bit since the show’s original run ended, but our collective need for nostalgia ensured that Chris Carter tried to replicate those earlier episodes, effectively trying to do ‘90s storytelling in 2016. The show refused to change for a fandom that had changed, and its revival did nothing but shine a spotlight on all the narrative warts of our favorite kooky conspiracy show.

The same need to peddle yesterday’s ideas to today’s very different audiences has doomed several other revivals, including That 90s Show and Frasier. Both of those shows tried to recreate their old formulas despite missing key cast members. Frasier is particularly egregious in that Kelsey Grammer is the only one of the original cast who returned in a meaningful way. For me personally, there was simply no appeal in watching this talented actor go through the motions without the support of the ‘90s best comedic ensemble cast (suck it, Seinfeld).

The Past Belongs In The Past

However, thanks to the failure of The X-Files revival, I already knew what to do about my hatred for the Frasier revival: ignore it in favor of simply streaming the original show. The classic episodes of all your favorite series are still available, and they will inevitably be better than any tired reboot or revival that the network trots out when they’re out of ideas. 

Furthermore, by ignoring these tepid revivals, we can send a powerful message to those same networks that we demand new ideas and not tired, old ones. You don’t have to meet a shadowy government informant or face down alien monsters to effectively send this message. All you need to do is the last thing networks expect: turn the TV off until there’s something worth watching.

Adult Swim has served as the home for groundbreaking entries in adult animation, whether it’s the sci-fi satire of Rick and Morty, the bloody yet strangely beautiful Primal, or cult classics like Aqua Teen Hunger Force. It’s also responsible for introducing an entire generation to anime via its Toonami block, which still continues to this day. Throughout Warner Bros.’ multiple corporate shake-ups, Adult Swim has remained one of the few constants. Yet it’s about to make a massive change in its programming schedule this summer by removing one of its classic shows from airing.

That show is Metalocalypse, which follows the death metal band Dethklok as they surge in popularity to the point where they become an economy unto themselves. Part of what makes Metalocalypse popular is its juxtaposition of black comedy and brutal imagery, as the members of Dethklok have achieved enough fame to literally get away with murder…which happens far too often due to their immense incompetence. While Metalocalypse leaving the air might open up Adult Swim’s schedule to newer programming, it’s also losing a key part of what shaped its identity.

Image via Adult Swim

While Metalocalypse may have wrapped up years ago, it still holds a major presence in pop culture thanks to co-creator Brendon Small. After Season 4 aired, Small would continue the series with the animated special Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem in 2013. A decade later, he’d write and direct Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar, the feature-length movie that served as the proper conclusion to Metalocalypse‘s story. Small’s biggest feat is actually forming a band named Dethklok in real life, which continues to host tours to this day. It’s a testament to Small’s creative ingenuity that he was able to end Metalocalypse on his own terms and continue its legacy via music.

Metalocalypse is also being pulled off the air at what’s arguably the worst time to do so, since this year marks the series’ 20th anniversary. Given how it’s still making waves after all these years, you’d think that there would be news of an animated special or a potential renewal in the vein of King of the Hill and Futurama. However, it seems like Adult Swim is content to just let Metalocalypse‘s 20th anniversary pass by, and fans scrambling to find physical sets since the series isn’t available to stream on HBO Max. What makes it even more bittersweet is that its creator might have predicted this outcome years ago.

Who’s Your Perfect Classic Rock Band?

Before Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar sprung into being, Brendon Small launched the “Metalocalypse Now” campaign in 2015 to convince Adult Swim to give Metalocalypse one final season. The campaign was a success, and even drew financial backers to help fund the series. Adult Swim decided not to pick up the series, which Small credited to the network wanting a show they could perpetually air in reruns during an interview.

“It turns out Adult Swim doesn’t want anyone to have Metalocalypse, not even themselves. They just want old re-runs. They paid for it, so they can take their ball and go home with it, and that’s how show business works, for better or for worse.”

While Snell doesn’t have ill feelings toward Adult Swim since he got to close out Metalocalypse the way he wanted, his words about perpetual reruns are coming true as Adult Swim will be replacing Metalocalypse with another of its cult classic shows, Superjail! Like Metalocalypse, Superjail! boasts a mix of black comedy and hyperviolence, but was nowhere near as popular. Most of Adult Swim’s programming consists of reruns of American Dad! or Rick and Morty, and while that’s bound to draw viewers, it feels like it’s shying away from the spirit of what made Adult Swim worth watching.

Thankfully, a slew of new programming is on the way, including the animated version of Anthony Bourdain‘s graphic novel Get Jiro! and Genndy Tartakovsky‘s Heist Brothers. Here’s hoping these shows grow as big as Metalocalypse or remind Adult Swim of its humble beginnings.

By Robert Scucci
| Published 16 seconds ago

After watching The Paradise Murders on Netflix, I noticed a startling pattern: there are suddenly a lot of Lifetime TV thrillers available on the streaming giant. They’re all 87 minutes long, mostly feature a female protagonist who’s being manipulated, lean into every psychological thriller trope known to man, and are such “light” fare that I’d hardly even consider them movies. But for some reason, I feel compelled to slowly work through all of them for the love of the game, which brings me to 2025’s The Body in the Locker.

Guess what this one’s about? Spoiler alert: the title tells you everything you need to know. A quick look through the Netflix catalog after searching “Lifetime” reveals similarly hilarious and on-the-nose titles to suffer through, like Held Hostage in My House, Stolen Baby, Abducted on Prom Night, and my personal favorite, a title I’ve yet to even consider watching but probably will, Gaslit by My Husband.

I love a good thriller, and what I’ve learned after watching The Paradise Murders, and now The Body in the Locker, is that I apparently also really, really love terrible ones. While The Body in the Locker is a step up from The Paradise Murders, it’s still a punisher that I need to talk about.

We Found Her Inside The Armoire … Of Despair! 

Okay, here we go. The Body in the Locker first introduces us to Amy Robertson (Kirsten Comerford), the new CEO of her father’s (John Koensgen) charity program after his untimely passing. She’s married to James (Chris Hong), who’s interviewing to become partner at the same charity but constantly butts heads with Peter (Robert Notman), the other guy aggressively gunning for the same position. Amy’s mother, Clare (Jayne Heitmeyer), is painted as a perfectionist through dialogue about her when she’s not around, establishing a domineering dynamic that will most certainly come into play later.

One day, while looking for documents, Amy has a run-in with Lisa (Briauna James), the woman working the front desk at the storage facility, who clearly knows about her late father’s foundation because she mentions what a crappy program it is. While rummaging through the storage locker, Amy is horrified to find a dead body hidden in the armoire, which makes me wonder why the movie isn’t called The Body in the Armoire, but I digress.

Naturally, the authorities need to get involved, which introduces us to Detective Clark (Dale Samms), a guy who seems generally unfazed by how a dead woman’s body somehow managed to make its way into an exceedingly wealthy, philanthropic CEO’s storage unit. Of course there’s no camera footage, and of course some key players are present when the unit burns down, making everybody a suspect. To make matters worse, Amy is accosted in her house when somebody tries to steal a mysterious flash drive that nobody knows the password to, thinking nobody was home, resulting in one of the most hilarious moments in the film: Amy picking up the most pathetic-looking fireplace poker and yelling, “I’m armed!”

The Body in the Locker goes on like this, making sure to lean into every thriller trope you can think of, from our protagonist winding down with a bath before something terrible happens to every suspect showing up at the wrong place and time, making them all look super suspicious even though it’s heavily implied that whoever killed the woman in the locker was acting alone. James gets grilled by the press at work and refuses to divulge information that could soil his late father-in-law’s reputation, while Clare tries to keep the whole thing hush-hush so her family’s legacy remains free of any dark spots.

Stop Interfering With Active Crime Scenes! 

The Body in the Locker is only the second Lifetime movie I’ve watched on Netflix, but a clear pattern is starting to emerge that I’ll be keeping tabs on. Everybody in these movies loves interfering with active crime scene investigations. The Paradise Murders shows guests at a luxury resort, some of whom are suspected of first-degree murder, coming and going as they please. Some of these people are caught rummaging through the victim’s personal belongings, and the most they get is, “Hey, buddy. Don’t do that!”

The same exact thing happens in The Body in the Locker. A storage unit is incinerated, and nobody, not even Lisa, whose entire job is to keep an eye on the business during the late-night hours, is ever questioned or told to stop coming to work until everything is sorted out. On one hand, it makes for a great mystery because everybody is so catastrophically stupid that maybe they accidentally Mr. Magoo’d a woman to death, panicked, and dragged her body into a nearby storage unit. I mean, the murder HAD to have happened there, right? Certainly somebody would have noticed a dead human body being dragged into this place before it got stuffed into an armoire, right?

I’m just a guy asking questions. You may also be asking questions like, “Why on Earth would I ever watch something like The Body in the Locker?” and I don’t have a clear answer for you other than I found it really, really funny. There are movies like The Room and Birdemic: Shock and Terror that get by on their low-budget cult-movie charm, but this one is entirely in a league of its own. At least for me, I’ve been really enjoying yelling at these Lifetime movies on Netflix while getting my cardio in on the exercise bike. I think the extra boost to my heart rate is enough to keep me coming back for more.

As of this writing, The Body in the Locker is streaming on Netflix. The real mystery, though, is whether you can handle it.

THE BODY IN THE LOCKER SCORE

Josh Duhamel jokingly recalled a specific moment when he realized his 21-year age gap with wife Audra Mari.

Duhamel, 53, appeared on the Monday, July 13, episode of “The HoneyDew With Ryan Sickler” podcast where he discussed the age gaps between him and his siblings. He specifically brought up how his youngest sister, Cassidy, was born when he was in college.

“Cassidy came along and I was playing football at Minot State University. I remember looking up at the stands and I saw my mom and had this bump,” he shared. “And I’m like, ‘Is my mom pregnant?’ I’m 21 years old and she’s having another baby.”

It wasn’t until recently that Duhamel realized the connection to his wife.

Related: Josh Duhamel and Wife Audra Mari’s Relationship Timeline

After a high-profile marriage and subsequent divorce from Fergie, Josh Duhamel sparked a low-key romance with now-wife Audra Mari. “Everyone told me that after you get married you feel different,” Mari exclusively gushed to Us Weekly in September 2022. “To be honest, I never really believed them and I thought it would feel the same […]

“There’s a picture of me holding Cassidy as a 21-year-old young man with this little bitty infant,” he continued. “I looked at the photo and I looked at my wife and I said, ‘You and Cassidy are exactly the same age.’”

Duhamel quipped: “I am officially too old for you. They’re literally like months apart in age. I never looked at it like that until I saw that photo. I was like, ‘Wait a second.’”

The actor was previously married to Fergie, with whom he shares 13-year-old son Axl. The former couple got married in 2009 and announced their split in 2017. Their divorce was finalized in 2019.

Duhamel subsequently found love with Mari, 32, who he dated for two years before proposing in 2022. They tied the knot that same year.

The Ransom Canyon star exclusively shared details about the spontaneous proposal with Us Weekly in 2022, saying, “I just sort of decided last-minute that was how I wanted to do it. I didn’t have anything planned. I didn’t have a ring yet. I was like, ‘OK, you’re gonna do this today. Today’s the day.’ And that’s just how it all kind of happened. … I coordinated with [the hotel concierge] there to make sure that bottle was floating up to shore as we were walking out there.”

Duhamel also offered a glimpse into his eldest child’s bond with his now-wife. “He is very excited about [our engagement]. That was a big part of it. They get along great. It’s been good,” he told Us. (Duhamel shares 2-year-old son Shepherd and 2-month-old daughter Rocca with Mari.

While reflecting on fatherhood, Duhamel opened up about his parenting approach, telling Us, “I want to make sure that I’m making him get out there and do things, making sure that he knows he’s safe and secure but also can go out and take risks. I also want to be a good role model for him. Because he is watching very closely.”

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More recently, Duhamel recalled on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast how his and Mari’s age difference initially kept them from being a couple.

“It was truly platonic for years before that because I was like, ‘No, she’s too young for me. I’m not even going to go there,’” he said in May 2025. “Then, we started DMing back and forth.”

He concluded: “Then, I invited her to a barbecue, still thinking it was totally platonic just as a friend from [North Dakota]. There aren’t many people from there. But she did come, and I saw her and I was like, ‘Holy s***, this girl’s beautiful.’ But then she’s more mature than I am. That’s really how we started dating and it’s been a beautiful thing. We’ve been married now for over two years. She’s an amazing mother.”

Tia Mowry has reached a new agreement with her ex-husband, Cory Hardrict, over custody of their two minor children.

The agreement comes nearly four years after the “Sister Sister” actress filed for divorce from the “Ray Donovan” star in 2022.

Recently, Tia opened up about her new relationship, revealing she “manifested” her partner after years of searching for the right one.

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Court documents obtained by TMZ reveal that Tia and Cory agreed that neither will go to the other’s home unless invited by the other parent or for planned custody exchanges.

Per the documents, Tia agreed to let Cory spend time with the kids during her custodial time; however, that time must be spent “with both minor children” unless something prevents it.

Finally, Cory agreed to return the children to Tia by 9 p.m. whenever he’s out with them.

Tia Mowry Filed For Divorce From Cory In October 2022

Tia and Cory showcased their decade-plus relationship on social media and on the reality TV show “Tia and Tamera.” In October 2022, Tia shocked fans when she revealed that they had decided to go their separate ways.

“I have always been honest with my fans, and today is no different. I wanted to share that Cory and I have decided to go our separate ways,” she said in the heartfelt message on Instagram. “These decisions are never easy, and not without sadness. We will maintain a friendship as we co-parent our beautiful children.”

The “Twitches” actress continued, “I am grateful for all the happy times we had together and want to thank my friends, family and fans for your love and support as we start this new chapter moving forward in our lives.”

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Tia Mowry Struggled After Filing For Divorce

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Following her divorce, Tia starred in her own reality show, “My Next Act,” and revealed during one episode that she was struggling to move forward after filing for divorce. Speaking to producers, Tia shared that she wished she had had her twin sister, Tamera, to rely on at that moment.

“I came into this world with a twin, and right after that, I went into a 22-year relationship, so I have never been alone in my life. It has been quite a journey,” Tia said. “Being alone has been the most challenging part of my divorce. It’s times like this when I feel and wish that my sister and I were still close, and I could pick up the phone and call her. But that’s just not where we are right now.”

Tia Knew Things Between Her And Cory Were Over When She Began Doing This One Thing

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Tia shared in a previous interview on the “Today Show” that she knew her relationship with Hardrict had come to an end when she began focusing on one thing: her happiness.

“I feel like women, we tend to focus on everybody else’s happiness, making sure that everybody else is OK — meaning our children, our friends, our family,” she said before stating that she finally realized “self-love” was the main goal.

“And it’s not easy. It’s a hard journey, but at the end of the day, I feel like it is so, so worth it,” she added.

Tia ‘Manifested’ Her New Boyfriend After Years Of Singleness

After years of navigating singleness, Tia found love in her new partner, Javone Williams. According to The Blast, Tia recently appeared on SiriusXM’s “Today Radio Show” and described her new partner as a “wonderful human being” before praising him for his “emotional intelligence.”

She explained that she “manifested” the relationship by listening to music, burning candles, and writing out what it was she was looking for in a man.

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“I’m glad that it came around the time…because I really wouldn’t have known what I wanted three years ago. I really needed to sit in like solitude and like learn who I am first before I even figured out what it was and what it is that I want. So I did do that,” she said. “So I would literally close my eyes, and I would meditate about my partner, and I would meditate about the feeling that I would want to feel, and the feeling was my nervous system being safe, and that’s exactly what he does, like he’s amazing, like he’s so wonderful.”

Days of Our Lives fans. Cat Greene (AnnaLynne McCord) just got an earful from Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) about EJ DiMera’s (Dan Feuerriegel) presumed role in the arsenic laced Coriseal incident. And you can bet Cat is going to use that in her ongoing ISA investigation because she is so determined to take down EJ no matter what.

Days of our Lives: Cat’s Big Break

So, this new tip off from Marlena is pretty big. Cat could use this as she continues to spy on EJ trying to get the goods on him for the ISA even though Andrew Donovan (Colton Little) and Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) want her to back off. So, as you know, Cat’s been spying on EJ for quite a while now, and she recently spilled to Marlena that she’s working for the ISA.

That was because Andrew told Cat she can talk to Marlena about anything because she’s got clearance. And of course, Marlena understands the ISA protocol of keeping things hush hush. Cat already knew that Marlena’s late husband, John Black, (Drake Hogestyn) was an ISA super spy. So between that and Marlena’s clearance and doctor patient confidentiality, all that’s come into play.

So, even given some of this, it wasn’t until Andrew reassured Cat that Marlena was cleared that she was willing to go under hypnosis because Cat really wants to find out about her past with EJ in Italy. Marlena put two and two together and realized Cat was spying on their mutual boss, EJ. That’s why Marlena decided to go ahead and spill. And she told Cat about the arsenic tainted Coriseal pills that were ostensibly associated with DiMera Pharmaceuticals.

DOOL: Brady & Sarah Still Searching

And so far, Brady Black (Eric Martsolf) and Sarah Horton (Linsey Godfrey) don’t have any concrete evidence against EJ. The first water test from the Horton cabin showed arsenic, but not Coriseal. That’s because EJ and his henchwoman, Rita, tampered with the test. And then Brady had his private eye partner Steve Johnson run a second test using an ISA lab.

That way EJ couldn’t alter it. But that one not only showed no Coriseal contamination, it also didn’t show any arsenic. So that left Brady and Sarah head scratching for about a minute. But it turns out Julie Williams (Susan Seaforth Hayes) had the well water purified after she learned about poor Holly Jonas (Ashley Puzemis) almost dying after drinking the arsenic tainted water.

Days of Our Lives: Cat’s Blackmail Options and ISA Investigation

And if you recall, Cat came back to the ISA as a financial analyst when the agency needed her to work on the multi-agency investigation into EJ alongside Rafe. And of course, he was looking into how EJ got the funds to purchase the struggling University Hospital. That part wasn’t terribly nefarious. Not as nefarious as it could have been. Gwen Rizczech (Emily O’Brien) was bankrolling EJ and Dr. Wilhelm Rolf (Richard Wharton). And that came after EJ helped Gwen kidnap Dimitri von Leuschner (Peter Porte). So that’s the nefarious part. She had all of his money to spend.

She was funding hospital and research and all that and the lab that resurrected Lexie Carver (Nikki Crawford). But after EJ told Gwen he wouldn’t honor their deal and was going to give her a smaller percentage, she was really ticked. Plus, there’s really not a lot of ROI coming because the Versix serum won’t resurrect the dead very effectively. It still could help people with sepsis. So hopefully there’ll be some money coming in at some point, but they’re in clinical trials and through the FDA process now.

Cat Got Close to EJ on Days

So, over the past year, while digging into this, Cat got close to EJ as his administrative assistant, but also as a honey trap. Cat’s trying to get as much info out of Elvis Jr. as possible. And after Cat did the hypnotherapy session with Marlena, she remembered quite a bit. Not only did she recall reading to EJ while they were both at the hospital in Italy, but also that Cat kissed EJ. And that came after he squeezed her hand.

It sure looked like Cat was into him back then, but maybe she was already playing him at that point, like she was playing EJ this week. So, he saw Cat with Felicity in the town square and joined them. And then Cat mentioned that Felicity is getting her driver’s license on Days of our Lives. So, EJ offered to let Felicity take a spin in his Lamborghini after she mentioned that she had read that EJ had been a race car driver. He’s too tall to be a race car driver.

I don’t know if you can fit a guy that big in a race car. But anyway, Felicity asked if they were dating or if EJ was just her sister Cat’s boss. It all seemed very cute, but then when EJ walked away, Cat told Felicity she did a good job with her lines, just like Cat told her. Yikes. She’s even got sweet little Felicity setting up EJ. I feel like that’s Cat going a little too far.

Days of our Lives: Cat Gets Major Info from Marlena

So, after that run-in with EJ, that’s when Cat learned from Marlena about the arsenic poisoning associated with DiMera Pharmaceuticals’ Coriseal pills. So, the question is, what is Cat going to do with this brand new intel about EJ? I can think of a few ways that she could use it to her advantage. You know, first of all, Cat could take it public and expose EJ because Cat knows full well that Leo Stark (Greg Rikaart) would love to write an expose about EJ’s dark dealings.

Cat could leak the information to Leo via an anonymous tip with some evidence. She doesn’t even have to out herself. But we could also see Cat telling Rafe about the link between DiMera Pharmaceuticals and Holly’s poisoning and other deaths. And from there, Rafe could figure out what to do. You know, EJ and the pharmaceutical company are criminally negligent at a minimum.

Cat Blackmails EJ on DOOL?

Another option is Cat could use Marlena’s info to personally blackmail or pressure EJ. We could see Cat confront EJ in private about the water test, the missing pharmaceutical company records, all that stuff. But I think Cat would have to be careful not to incriminate herself. But we could see her telling EJ she heard it as gossip up at work. And that could be why the summer promo shows EJ firing Sarah.

You know, Cat could use that information that she claims she heard plus their personal history and the Italy connection trying to manipulate EJ to get him to do the right thing. Especially if he thinks Cat is going to be his reward for being decent. You know, EJ might be tempted, but I think we all know doing right is not really his thing.

We could also see Cat turn to EJ’s son, Johnny DiMera (Carson Boatman), trying to flip him on his dad. You know, Cat could tell Johnny what she knows. Thing is, he pretty much knows what she knows because EJ had him leave that book open for Sarah so she could save Holly from the arsenic poisoning.

Then again, we could see Cat and Rafe setting up an ISA FBI sting operation to expose EJ and the toxic drugs, the cover up, the deaths, maybe more, plus the water contamination. So, Rafe and Andrew may agree that Cat can wear a wire and get up close and personal with EJ to get what they need to make an arrest, but I don’t think either of them are actually going to want to let her get that close to him.

Cat uses EJ’s Heart against Him on Days

But I also think that Cat’s going to keep exploiting EJ’s romantic interest in her and use his growing feelings. She could do that to try to get him to confess on tape or to get access to his computer, get something in writing that’s hard evidence. I just wonder at some point if Cat’s going to get conflicted because of her own feelings for EJ.

You know, in the end, despite her former determination, she may hesitate to bring him to justice. Or in a twist, Cat may have second thoughts and actually protect EJ before the big reveal. You know what I’m wondering is when this all comes out, is Cat going to be in danger of EJ coming after her for revenge? Especially when he seems to have sincere feelings for her and Cat seems to be playing on those.

But the other thing is there’s a chance that EJ is five chess moves ahead and he’s known this whole time that Cat was undercover and he was doing one of those “keep your enemies closer” thing and he is pretending to be into her or he can’t help himself and he is into her but he’s wise to what she’s trying to pull against him. That would be a fun twist. Bottom line, I think we’re going to see if it’s a cat and mouse game where the mouse gets the better of Cat.

After the Big Brother live eviction on Thursday night, they played the Head of Household comp. And we’ve got your week 2 HOH results for BB28. We saw Yash Patel win the BB Blockbuster and then Ashley Trail went out on a 14-0 house vote.

And when the feeds came back up, another reality TV icon had won the Head of Household. Given that Dee Valladares couldn’t play, that tells you it was either Angela Murray or Rick Devens. We’ll talk about what went down and who’s headed to the chopping block.

Big Brother: Ashley Sent Down the Trail

Ashley’s gone and did it to herself by revealing the big alliance. And once Drew Campbell took that back to the Crossovers, that was it. Dee decided Ashley had to go so she couldn’t expose their big power alliance.

Also, Ashley set a record on her way out. Ashley’s the first person in Big Brother history to be evicted with 14 votes. And post-eviction, on the live feeds, we saw who won the week 2 HoH comp.

The Crossovers were hoping one of them or Red Corner would win it. Because otherwise, they knew there were targets on their back. Mallory Aurichio was gunning for Dee in retribution for being thrown on the block.

And Jason de Puy told everyone he’s going after Dee, Rick Devens and Angela Murray. Because let’s face it, Jason’s ego is wounded that he wasn’t brought in as an icon himself having been on RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Big Brother: Jason’s Chaotic Play

People are still on fire about Jason’s dirty move on Big Brother. With him manipulating Angela. But even if it was strategic, it was sloppy. Because Jason went around telling people he was fake crying. Why?

We know Dan Gheesling lied to Frank about taking him to F2 after his legendary funeral. But Dan didn’t do it when he had safety. Jason was safe and had no reason to be playing that hard.

There was also in BB24, Daniel wanting to guilt Jasmine using her dead dad to flip her vote. And over on Survivor, the coldest move ever was when Johnny Fairplay had his friend Dan tell him that his grandmother died.

Which she didn’t. The tribe felt so bad they let Johnny win the next challenge. The other castaways found out post-season. So, Johnny kept it locked down and it was legendary.

Big Brother 28: Devens Wins HOH and Jason’s Overconfidence

With Jason targeting Devens in particular because he’s well-liked and funny, this HOH comp was all-important. Plus, Jason thinks Devens is his main competition for AFP. He’s even decided that Devens is stealing his jokes by saying funny stuff before Jason can.

Melody Morris said that Devens is hilarious. And Barrett Pfeiffer said he’s actually mad about how funny Devens is. Jason’s also griped about wanting more screentime. He’s also been lying and telling the other houseguests he might try out for Drag Race after this.

But then when they were voting on Thursday’s episode, while Melody was in the hall right outside, Jason was shouting out RuPaul, Carson Kressley and Ross Matthews from Drag Race.

The big question is whether Melody heard him and tattles to others about his lies. Now, let’s talk about the new Head of Household for week 2. Feeds came back up post-eviction at almost 1 AM Eastern time. The houseguests were all in cute western costumes.

Big Brother: Everybody Wants Devens

Devens had the key around his neck and he was all in black with a cool turquoise bolo tie. The outfits were all cool. I’m sure Chuk Anyanwu was super comfy and probably had his own western wardrobe that he could have worn for this HOH comp.

So, Devens talked to Rome Seymour in the storage room and promised to talk more later but said that he’s set, implying that Devens won’t nominate Rome. However, when he asked Devens about where Lyric Medeiros stands, Devens was less reassuring.

There’s also the time capsule reward or punishment coming and I won’t be surprised if an icon takes that too, but we’ll see. Right after the feeds came back, everyone was already trying to score alone time with Devens.

Big Brother 28: Nomination Speculation and Target Analysis

This is back-to-back Survivor HOHs by the way. That means Angela and Dee are both safe. With Jason talking nonstop about putting Devens on the block and making a meal out of backdooring him, that’s an obvious nomination.

I’m counting the minutes until Angela presses Devens to put Jason up on that block. Mallory’s also had Devens’ name in her mouth. He said he wouldn’t nom someone who’d already been up but only mentioned Yash and Taylor.

Obviously, Barrett and Drew are safe. And likely the Red Corner of Haley Thogmartin, Chuk and Kamuela “Kamu” Kirk are safe. I’d like to see Devens nominate Rome, Lyric and Jason. Hopefully Devens knows you shouldn’t put up half a showmance.

Because if Lyric’s up and Rome’s not, and he’s picked to play veto, that doubles Lyric’s chances in POV and means two people could be gunning for Devens if she comes down. We’ll see. Come back tomorrow to hear the nominations!

Your hair is your crown, and few people understand that better than Zendaya.

The actress’ hairstylist, Coree Moreno, sat down with ET to reveal the creative process behind her latest looks, including the dreamy, flowing styles she’s been rocking during The Odyssey press tour. 

And when inspiration strikes, it usually starts with Zendaya herself.

“Normally she’s found a reference and it’s my job to birth the vision,” he says. “She’s open with intention and sure about how she wants to look. I love the challenge of unveiling her deepest hair desires.”

Lately, those ideas have leaned into soft, cascading lengths, which Moreno created using Bellami’s Flex Weft in Dark Brown and Tape In extentions in Chocolate Rebel.

“Bellami is perfect for everything from subtle fullness to custom hairpieces for everyday wear,” he explains. “They have such a diverse shade range, and I love mixing multiple colors to create depth and texture.”

These days, he’s been using the brand to create an airy, lived-in aesthetic.

“I love ethereal, undone feels,” he shares. “Not manipulating the texture and letting waves and curls live in their true state is the future of hair.”

His advice for channeling that effortless energy this summer is refreshingly simple.

“Whether it’s polished or deconstructed, braids are perfect for unpredictable weather, giving the hair direction and order while beating the heat,” he explains. 

His favorite finishing touches? Beaded scarves, fabric wraps, hats, and headbands are all on his list of must-haves this season.

“Hair accessories are the perfect way to elevate a style without thinking too hard about it.”

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By Robert Scucci
| Published 8 seconds ago

There’s no better way to depict the beginning of the end than to show exactly how it might happen in real time, like in 1988’s Miracle Mile. The story is a simple one about a guy learning that a full-blown nuclear war is about to kick off, and how he needs to not only convince everybody around him that he isn’t crazy, but also find the woman he just met, who may very well be the love of his life, so they can escape the apocalypse and live to see another day.

There’s not much you need to know about Miracle Mile to be sold on its premise other than the fact that this movie goes hard. Once its conflict is established, it becomes a race against the clock, resulting in an unthinkable amount of collateral damage brought on by mass hysteria.

If Only He Didn’t Pick Up The Phone

The fatalist in me has taught me not to engage in certain behavior, especially after watching too many thrillers to count. For example, if a random payphone outside of a diner rings, maybe don’t pick it up. If you don’t know what you don’t know, you can just grab a cheeseburger, not knowing it may be your last. 

Picking up the phone is exactly what Harry Washell (Anthony Edwards) does after trying to reach Julie Peters (Mare Winningham), a woman he only just met earlier in the day while visiting the La Brea Tar Pits. Harry promises to meet Julie at her late-night bartending shift after the two hit it off so well, oversleeps, and wakes up at 4:00 a.m. He makes his way to the local diner and leaves Julie a voicemail apologizing for missing their date. The second he hangs up, the pay phone rings again. He answers, and he’s greeted by a distraught man named Chip, who warns him of an incoming nuclear launch that will decimate the city.

Before Harry can extract any more information from Chip, he hears the man get shot dead, only for another man to pick up the phone and tell him to forget anything ever happened. Rightfully disturbed by the exchange, Harry enters the diner and tells everybody what he heard, which is met with understandable skepticism. When a businesswoman named Landa (Denise Crosby) all but confirms his suspicions, she makes arrangements for an evacuation via private jet, an offer that every patron immediately jumps on.

Harry, on the other hand, stays behind so he can track down Julie and meet up with them later. If the end times are kicking off on the same day he meets the woman of his dreams, he might as well rescue her. After all, you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take, even if the world as you know it is about to end.

A Frantic Race Against The Clock

While Miracle Mile obviously uses filmic time to seamlessly get you from point A to point B, the whole thing plays out as if it were unfolding in real time. The entire second and third acts involve Harry scrambling to find Julie and fill her in on what’s happening. If he’s successful, he can catch up with everybody from the diner and get out of the city before the bombs start dropping. While the streets are overrun with panic and bedlam, we’re still not sure if Chip’s warning is legitimate or if it simply triggered a mass panic over nothing. All signs suggest that something catastrophic is about to happen, but Miracle Mile’s on-the-street, “we don’t know what’s going on,” energy is frenetic enough to keep you guessing.

If you’ve ever had the displeasure of attending a densely populated event that suddenly needs to be evacuated, you’ll know exactly the feeling I’m talking about. It doesn’t take long for something as simple as a teenager pulling a fire alarm at a convention to be blown way out of proportion as the people living through it assume the worst. Here, the stakes are high enough, and you’re drip-fed enough clues from the story, to surmise that this could very well be the real deal.

When the going gets tough, though, Miracle Mile is not without levity. My favorite sequence involves Harry running into an all-night gym and asking every single spandex-wrapped meathead if any of them know how to fly a helicopter. What makes it so funny is that he finds exactly what he’s looking for, making you think, “Well… how convenient?”

That is not to say that Miracle Mile is a comedy. It is very much a thriller. At 87 minutes, it’s relentlessly paced and doesn’t waste a single minute of its run time. It’s also the adventure of a lifetime. At the very least, I can’t think of anything more thrilling than running through a city on the verge of destruction, saving the girl, and then jumping into a chopper while everybody below you gets reduced to ash.

To find out Harry and Julie’s fate in Miracle Mile, you can stream the film for free on Tubi as of this writing. If you’re looking for a mean and lean thriller to fill your evening, it doesn’t get much better than this.

By Robert Scucci & Joshua Tyler | Published 32 seconds ago

As streaming providers continue cutting costs to increase profits, and studios stop releasing physical copies due to a lack of interest, some of the best sci-fi movies ever made are on the verge of being lost forever. In 1995, a sci-fi movie tried to issue a warning about the future, and no one listened. It flopped at the box office, and despite a positive response from the few who saw it, the film was soon lost to the mists of history. Now, it’s hard to find on streaming and totally out of print on physical media. But we think it’s worth seeing.

This is why Strange Days failed.

One of the hardest things about enjoying dystopian sci-fi is how time continues to march forward, and suddenly we’re looking back at 1995’s Strange Days in the year 2026, knowing full well that Y2K’s initial threat never came close to living up to expectations. It’s easy to write off films like Strange Days for this reason alone because we all lived to see another day, despite the many kernels of truth peppered throughout the film’s premise. It’s worth noting, though, that the film isn’t nearly as dated as you might think, as it taps into present-day issues like police brutality, government overreach, device addiction, and a general sense of technology-driven apathy and malaise.

One of the unfortunate realities about Strange Days is that it’s nearly impossible to watch online. However, this isn’t due to some grand Orwellian conspiracy once you look at the numbers. Since it’s not easy to watch online, I probably should explain what kind of movie Strange Days is.

One SQUID To Rule Them All

Strange Days opens with a literal bang as we witness a Chinese restaurant getting held up at gunpoint. It’s shot from a frantic first-person perspective, and the robbery quickly goes off the rails. The building is surrounded by police, there’s a frenetic chase sequence, and after trying to jump from one city rooftop to the next, the person whose head we’re living in loses his grip and falls to his death, which introduces us to our protagonist, Lenny Nero, played by Ralph Fiennes.

Lenny is a former LAPD officer turned black market purveyor of the highly illegal, highly addictive SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device), a sort of virtual reality technology that allows its users to live somebody else’s memories as if they were their own. Lenny gets a kick out of watching the memories, which are stored on small CD-ROMS, when he retrieves them from his hookup, Tick, before selling them off for a profit. He’s essentially a drug dealer because people become addicted to the dopamine rush that comes from living vicariously through somebody else’s memories and experiencing every sensation as if they were their own.

In between his black market business ventures, Lenny often throws on discs featuring memories with his rock band fronting ex-girlfriend Faith, played by Juliette Lewis, while downplaying his obsession whenever he’s around Angela Bassett’s Mace. Mace is a limo driver and bodyguard who doesn’t like how deep into the SQUID technology he’s getting. She doesn’t want to see him go off the deep end because when he was a cop, he functioned as a father figure to her young son after her abusive boyfriend was arrested and Lenny was the officer on the scene.

When a SQUID disc depicting a murder is dropped through the sunroof of Lenny’s car by a frightened prostitute, Lenny, Mace, and private investigator Max, played by the late great Tom Sizemore, try to figure out exactly what’s going on. While this initial murder investigation is underway, a far more sinister plot emerges involving Faith’s new record executive boyfriend and the recently murdered rapper and activist he used to manage.

Laid out like that, this plot sounds like a tangled mess, but in the context of the film, it all fits together. That makes sense given the talent behind it. James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow are masters of the craft.

When Cyberpunk And Neo-Noir Aesthetics Collide

As in most dystopian films, everything looks simultaneously modern and run-down, and the LA backdrop does so much heavy lifting in Strange Days. Really, all you need to make the imagery pop is wet streets and plenty of neon, and there’s no shortage of either here. Throw in police-state chaos and a murder mystery that slowly unfolds through the voyeuristic SQUID technology as Lenny finds more discs pointing him in the right direction, and you have a solid neo-noir plot where nobody can be trusted because everybody’s up to something.

Lenny and Mace keep the whole film grounded because they trust each other, but with everybody else whispering in their ears, they’re truly going it alone, which becomes terrifying once you consider Lenny’s increasing dependence on SQUID and Mace’s unwillingness to watch somebody she loves destroy himself.

Everything about Strange Days still holds up today if you ignore the whole Y2K angle, but in my mind, that just makes it a time capsule from a very specific moment in history. The SQUID technology is more relevant than ever because it hints at the kind of media addiction we live with today. The Jeriko One storyline points to much larger systemic issues involving racism and the horrors of living in a police state where every officer is corrupt and pushing some sort of ulterior agenda. 

What makes Strange Days a truly timeless piece of cinematic art is its gritty aesthetic, shifts in perspective, and willingness to hold back major reveals until absolutely necessary, layering the mystery that rewards multiple viewings. Strange Days is uncomfortable, addictive, and, at its core, a thrilling mystery that slowly unravels across 145 minutes without ever skimping on style or favoring it over substance. 

Why Strange Days Failed

James Cameron was right to pen the screenplay with director Kathryn Bigelow in mind because she clearly understood the assignment. That should have paid off in a big way at the box office, but it didn’t. 

Many critics, like Roger Ebert, gave Strange Days a perfect four-star rating, and the film currently boasts only a 71 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. 71 percent is good, but not great. Which means most people liked it, but they didn’t REALLY like it. That also likely means there wasn’t a lot of word of mouth out there pushing people to see it when Strange Days came out. So, Strange Days was a total box office wipeout. 

Kathryn Bigelow’s cyberpunk thriller reportedly cost around $42 million to make, but earned only about $8 million domestically after opening wide in 1,691 theaters with a weak $3.7 million weekend. Even allowing for some international grosses, the movie came nowhere close to recouping its budget, making it one of 1995’s more painful sci-fi failures. 

It was an expensive studio movie with the commercial instincts of a cult movie, and at the time of its release, most blamed the flop on the film’s confusing marketing campaign. The movie was hard to explain in one clean hook: it was sci-fi, but not fun sci-fi; action, but not a simple action movie; political, but wrapped in a lurid techno-thriller. The result was especially brutal because Strange Days had prestige talent behind it, including Bigelow, James Cameron, Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, and Juliette Lewis, but none of those names were huge draws on their own back then, and audiences simply did not show up.

Why Strange Days Is Hard To Find On Streaming

In other words, Strange Days, despite its modest acclaim, is still very much in the red, and when you consider the complicated, longstanding rights issues associated with the film, it’s not exactly a high-priority IP for streaming platforms to pick up. Still, there are a lot of failed movies on streaming, so you’d think it would be easy to find out there. It isn’t.

After not being online for a long time, it briefly surfaced on HBO Max in 2023 and then disappeared again. Strange Days is, as of this moment, only very recently available on Hulu, and who knows how long that will last.

The best way to watch the film is to track down a used physical copy on Amazon or keep your eyes peeled the next time you’re at the thrift store. Even then, you might have a hard time finding it because it’s been out of print for quite some time.

It’s worth watching if you can find a copy. If you get one, hang on to your physical media version. They aren’t making more of them.