By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 1 hour ago

Every child of the ’80s carries with them scars to this day. We watched Artax lose the will to live in the Swamp of Sorrow, half the Autobots blown up in the first 10 minutes of Transformers: The Movie, and Punky Brewster turning refrigerators into the scariest household appliance. Even the original 1983 G.I. Joe got in on the action with surprisingly dark episodes, including one in which a traitor is consumed by piranhas, but none hit as hard as “There’s No Place Like Springfield,” a two-part psychological horror focused on breaking Shipwreck, a fan favorite character, so that he’d give up the secret formula that turns water into an explosive. Cobra never did anything the way, so the master plan was to pay homage to the mind-bending sci-fi series The Prisoner. 

G.I. Joe’s Psychological Horror Season Finale

After the required bumper saying “G.I. Joe will return after these messages,” Shipwreck wakes up in a hospital and learns that his family was concerned about him. Not Uncle Al, but his wife (Mara, the Cobra operative spliced with fish DNA who previously fell in love with Shipwreck) and daughter, which is news to the career soldier who had given up on ever having a normal life. Haunted by nightmares, Shipwreck nonetheless falls into a routine with the family he always wanted in the idyllic town of Springfield. 

The two-part episode is the equivalent of a slow-burning episode for G.I. Joe, which normally wrapped up the entire story in 22-minutes with a massive gun battle. “There’s No Place Like Springfield” slowly peels back the curtain as Shipwreck realizes there’s something wrong with the town, and he uncovers the Cobra conspiracy behind it all. With the town burning down around him when the Joes arrive on a rescue mission, Shipwreck is confronted by Mara, the woman he loves, who’s still fighting for Cobra, and his daughter, armed with a rocket launcher.. Until they melt into goo. 

G.I. Joe was a very light-hearted children’s show designed to sell toys, which is why the sheer anguish in Shipwreck’s voice when he realizes that his family were synthoids is so haunting. He knows he’s been lied to by Cobra, he knows everything is fake, but in those final moments, he’s still hoping that it could be real. A glorified commercial wasn’t supposed to include deep themes about life, love, and trauma. All it needed was for the loved ones of a fan favorite character to start melting as he helplessly looked on. 

G.I. Joe’s Best Episode

“There’s No Place Like Springfield” clearly took cues from Patrick McGoohan’s psychological sci-fi drama by dropping the hero in the middle of a perfect town, where other residents use various methods, both overt and covert, to get information from him. Shipwreck’s house is also located at 6 Village Drive, an obvious homage to Number Six and The Village from The Prisoner. As a kid, it’s easy to miss references to a show from the 60s, even the large, white, gelatinous mass that attacks Shipwreck is a direct reference to The Village’s bouncy, balloon security device, Rover. All the kids cared about was that Shipwreck made it out alive. 

G.I. Joe ended Season 1 with the two-part psychological horror, but when Season 2 came around a year later, Shipwreck wasn’t shown dealing with the trauma; instead, he was reduced to comic relief. The addition of Sgt. Slaughter in Season 2 forced Season 1’s fan favorites to get less of the spotlight, but of all of them, Shipwreck deserved to remain a featured player, and he deserved to eventually settle down with the real Mara. 

Melting loved ones turned “There’s No Place Like Springfield” into a memorable G.I. Joe episode that’s remained at the top of fan favorite lists for decades. 80s kids were used to horrible, horrible things happening to their heroes ever since we watched E.T. get sick. There had to be a better way to introduce new toys than to kill off the old favorites.   

If you want to relive the 80s or check it out for the first time, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is currently streaming for free on Pluto TV.

The Ceremony: A Sacred Pause

Intimacy As Luxury

The Shift: When The Night Awakens

Fashion As Transformation

The Reveal

Whew, chileeeee! The internet has eyes on The Game after part two of his interview with Shaniece Hairston and Evelyn Lozada dropped. Folks online have been breaking down their lil’ chat, and now comments are flying. One debate that’s really popping online is whether Evelyn overstepped her grandma role. Some social media users think she got a little too flirty with Game, but even with that others think he was definitely picking up on whatever she was trying to put down.

RELATED: Love Over War! The Game & Evelyn Lozada Get Real About How Things Played Out After Learning Shaniece Hairston Was Pregnant

Did Grandma Evelyn Just Try To Run Game On The Game?

Okay, so BOOM! Clips from part two of The Game’s podcast interview with Shaniece Hairston and Evelyn Lozada is going viral. As if their first chat wasn’t enough, now folks are saying they should’ve kept the second part in the tuck or even at the dinner table. The rapper was cutting up with some of his answers to Evelyn’s questions. Some folks even thought their vibes were giving that’s really grandma’s baby than son-in-law. One particular clip that’s making rounds on TikTok shows Game giving Evelyn props for being one of the “best looking grandma’s on earth,” yes, the planet y’all! He even admitted that he’s always told her about “how good she looks at 50.” And of course Evelyn made sure to give him some compliments back crediting him for his intelligence. So.. who was really trying to run “game” here. We’ll let y’all be the judge, Roomies?!

@dk_culture Evelyn Lozada & The GAME flirting the whole interview! Her Daughters baby Daddy #evelynlozada #loveandhiphop #thegame #hiphoplove ♬ Originalton – macbook_music

Evelyn Spills On Lil’ Tiff Between Shaniece & The Game Over Their Child’s Name

Things got even messier online when social media users started accusing Evelyn of trying to embarrass Shaniece by spilling tea about her and Game arguing over their son’s name. During the interview, Evelyn recalled Shaniece getting upset after giving birth because she didn’t want their son’s name to be Blaze and even considered changing it. But what really got folks talking was Game admitting he goes tit for tat. The Compton emceee said he would’ve turned his petty up and hid his hands when it came to signing the passport for their son if Shaniece thought about switching up his name.

@rickybobby6025 I don’t think Shaniece expected her mom, Evelyne Lozada to release that information to the public😬😳 #thegame #evelynlozada #shaniecelozada #dropthelopodcast #babydaddy ♬ original sound – RickyBobby6025

Did Game Just Crash Shaniece’s Possible Happy Ending?

Evelyn didn’t stop at spilling tea — she came through asking some real hot questions too. She asked Game what he would do, hypothetically, if Shaniece started a whole new relationship and got married. He straight-up said that’s not happening, and he put the blame on himself. Game claimed any man trying to step to Shaniece would be shook at the thought of dealing with him since they share a child. Even with all of that, he said he has zero faith Shaniece would be walking down the aisle within a year anyway, because the dating stage usually lasts longer than that.

“Yes, you’re beautiful and yes, I want to be with you… I love you. But that thought process and that courting stage lasts longer than a year […] so it definitely won’t be next year.”

@dk_culture The Game on why Shanice (Evelyn’s Daughter) will not be getting married anytime soon #evelynlozada #thegame #game #hiphop #fyp ♬ original sound – dk_culture

RELATED: Copy & Paste! The Internet Can’t Get Enough Of The Mini-Me Vibes Between The Game & His Kids (VIDEO)

By Robert Scucci
| Published 1 hour ago

When people say “they don’t make thrillers like they used to,” I have full reason to believe they have films like 1971’s Klute in mind when they’re airing their grievances. Sometimes, all you need to tell a compelling story is a missing persons case, a climbing body count, and some good old fashioned police work. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, Klute delivers all of the above in spades, and it’s no surprise that its critical and commercial success kicked off what’s affectionately, and informally, known as the “paranoia trilogy,” which also includes 1974’s The Parallax View and 1976’s All the President’s Men.

Anchored by a tight mystery that never fully reveals its true nature until it reaches a breaking point, Klute is a hard-boiled neo-noir thriller you can really sink your teeth into as you try to put the puzzle pieces together yourself.

Starts With A Missing Person And A Call Girl

When Pennsylvania-based chemical company executive Tom Gruneman (Robert Milli) vanishes without a trace, private investigator John Klute (Donald Sutherland) is summoned to trace his whereabouts. Before committing to the case, he’s briefed on intel provided by Gruneman’s employer and colleague, Peter Cable (Charles Cioffi), so he knows exactly what he’s getting into. The only lead John Klute has to work with involves a New York City call girl named Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda), who has received several obscene letters from Gruneman in the lead-up to his disappearance.

The investigation starts out simply enough, with John secretly renting a basement apartment in Bree’s building so he can surveil her and gather intel. Bree is a tough nut to crack because she genuinely enjoys the independence her career affords her as a high-class call girl between sparsely offered acting and modeling gigs. John knows he’s tailing the right woman, but Bree, given how many johns she’s encountered over the years, only vaguely remembers an encounter with Gruneman, who was said to have laid hands on her.

Bree is at first hesitant to work with John, but when their frequent run-ins result in a budding romance, their motives align and she becomes more willing to cooperate with the investigation. That cooperation leads John to Frank Ligouin (Roy Scheider), Bree’s former pimp. Upon learning about two other call girls, Jane Mckenna and Arlyn Page, who both had similarly troubling encounters with Gruneman, John comes as close as he ever will to locating him, only to realize that Gruneman’s disappearance is merely the tip of the iceberg. There are more parties involved, and they don’t want their dark secrets exposed.

A Straight-Faced Thriller With A Gutpunch Ending

More than 50 years after its initial release, Klute is still as effective as anything coming out today because it doesn’t bother overexplaining what’s truly at stake. Instead, it leaves a breadcrumb trail of clues and morally dubious figures in its wake. John Klute has a job to do, but he also finds himself uncovering a far-reaching conspiracy involving powerful people. There’s ample reason not to trust his client at face value, and Bree’s own paranoia and inability to trust anyone adds a palpable layer of tension as she lets her guard down and allows John to become more than just the private investigator living in her building.

Klute checks all the boxes for a rock-solid crime thriller, and it holds up because it’s a well-written mystery that trusts its audience to do the heavy lifting. It leans hard into neo-noir without relying on gimmicks, melodramatic dialogue, or intrusive narration. Its straight-faced delivery is what ultimately pulls you in as you zero in on the guilty parties involved. And if you like what you see here, there’s plenty more where that came from with its unofficial companions, The Parallax View and All the President’s Men.

As of this writing, Klute is streaming for free on Tubi.

TikToker Halley Kate McGookin says she can still feel her head injury nearly two years after she was allegedly punched by a man in the streets of New York City.

McGookin, 25, appeared at the Manhattan Supreme Court trial of Skiboky Stora on Tuesday, February 3, where she claimed that she was on her way to record a podcast in March 2024 when she was punched by a stranger, according to the New York Post. She further testified that she was so caught off guard by the alleged assault that she even apologized to her attacker.

“He was screaming at me, using a lot of profanity, saying it was my fault,” McGookin testified, according to the outlet.

McGookin claimed she can still feel pain at her hairline where she was allegedly struck.

“I couldn’t really touch anywhere near that spot,” she continued. “I couldn’t really brush my head because it was so painful, tender. “I can still feel in my hairline where I was hit.”

Related: Influencer Details Being Randomly Punched in the Head in NYC

Influencer Kindra Hall had a frightening encounter when out and about in New York City. “On Wednesday, May 14th, around 10:30am I was punched in the head by a passing stranger,” the author, 44, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, May 22. “I wasn’t going to post this as a reel … but there are a […]

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Stora, 42, is charged with three counts of third-degree assault as a hate crime, one count of stalking as a hate crime and second-degree aggravated harassment connected to several alleged random attacks in NYC, including an incident where he allegedly attacked a Jewish couple and yelled, “Die, Jews! Die!”

“Skiboky Stora allegedly committed a series of hate-motivated incidents against several individuals based on their perceived gender, race and religion,” said District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. in May 2024, according to ABC News. “Much of what defines our city is respect and acceptance of all people. Nobody should have to fear for their safety because of their identity. I thank our prosecutors for their unwavering commitment in seeking justice for these victims.”

Stora was arrested two days after the alleged attack on McGookin, following an investigation by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force and the Manhattan DA’s office.

McGookin, who did not directly identify Stora as her attacker, posted a video to TikTok about the alleged assault shortly after she claimed it occurred.

“You guys, I was literally just walking, and a man came up and punched me in the face. Oh my God, it was so bad. I can’t even talk,” McGookin said in the video, which went viral and prompted several other TikTok users to come forward with accounts of similar alleged incidents.

Stora, a self-proclaimed rapper, appeared in court wearing a tie with his first name on it. He is representing himself in the trial and reportedly ignoring advice from a legal adviser, according to the NY Post.

Stora asked McGookin a series of unusual questions in court, including one about allegedly being the target of a federal probe and another about a “TikTok trend going around that people were saying they were punched, sucker-punched too.”

The questions were shut down by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Josh Hanshaft.

Stora’s trial is set to resume on Wednesday, February 4.

Ahead of her appearance in court on Tuesday, McGookin, who has 1.6 million followers on TikTok at the time of publication, took to Instagram to share a video of herself walking down the sidewalk to “The Phantom of the Opera.”

“What plays in my head as I am walking up to the courthouse to testify against the man who hit me in the head two years ago,” she wrote over the clip.

McGookin added in the caption, “He hit the wrong girl lemme tell u that.”

By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated 1 hour ago

James Bond is a fictional character who needs no introduction: he is the super-sexy, martini-swilling secret agent who always manages to get the last laugh and the girl, usually in that order. Right now, the franchise is at a creative crossroads as we wait to learn who the next Bond will be and whether his adventures will stay confined to the big screen or spread out to the small screen. Fortunately, you can return to the franchise roots with the click of a button by playing Dr. No (1962 on Netflix today.

The premise of Dr. No is that British superspy James Bond is dispatched to investigate the sudden death of a fellow spy. Along the way, he meets up with a few expected enemies (like rival spies) and a few unexpected allies (like a friend at the CIA) before getting caught up in the titular villain’s plan to disrupt an upcoming space launch. Now, whether that launch will be successful or not and whether the good doctor’s evil organization ends up ruling the world may come down to Bond’s ability to save the day when every deck is stacked impossibly against him.

A Cast That Really Leans In

The cast of Dr. No includes Joseph Wiseman (best known outside of this movie for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) as the titular supervillain and Ursula Andress (best known outside of this movie for Clash of the Titans) as the first Bond girl. Unsurprisingly, the best performance comes from Sean Connery, who gives his secret agent a roguish charm that helped to make the actor a household name. Make no mistake: James Bond would never have become such an international phenomenon if not for Connery’s legendary performance, one that holds up remarkably well after all these years.

Relative to its budget, Dr. No is one of the most successful films ever made, especially in the action genre. Against a budget of $1.1 million, the film earned $59.5 million, establishing Bond, James Bond, as one of the most marketable IPs in the entire world. The success of this movie ensured it would have many sequels, leading to a Bond franchise that consists (so far) of 25 official movies, with various actors (including Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig) filling the oversized shoes of Sean Connery once he finally left the franchise that had made him famous.

The Critics Couldn’t Say “No”

Dr. No took over the film world as surely as its titular villain wanted to take over the real world. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie had a stunning score of 95 percent, with critics commending the film for its uniquely intoxicating blend of action and style. They further praised the movie for delivering such a fully formed cinematic hero in the form of James Bond, someone whose humor and sex appeal are just as much a part of his arsenal as the sexy cars and sleek guns.

If you’re a longtime fan of 007, you might find him largely unrecognizable in this first outing: he’s a meaner, colder secret agent, someone more akin to Daniel Craig or Timothy Dalton’s take on this famous super agent. That doesn’t mean you won’t see some of that trademark Bond charm and plenty of eye candy, thanks to the inaugural Bond girl, Honey Ryder. Plus, the plot is relatively scaled down, but this might very well appeal to someone who has gotten bored by the impossibly high stakes of later Bond outings that feel more like generic Marvel movies rather than grounded, realistic adventures in their own right.

The Most Driven Spy In Hollywood

Dr. No isn’t the best James Bond movie, but it’s arguably the most important because it introduced the world to an entirely new breed of action hero. 007’s influence in future films simply can’t be overstated, and he eventually became one of the most recognizable pop culture figures ever created. Understandably, there’s plenty of joy in returning to Bond’s first outing, which is a relentlessly satisfying romp in its own right that just happens to lay all the groundwork for the sexiest, most stylish franchise to ever grace the silver screen.

Will you agree that Dr. No is a sexy classic that changed Hollywood forever, or is this one spy movie you’d rather leave in the past? The only way to find out is to grab the remote (just watch out for that exploding pen!) and stream it for yourself on Netflix. When it comes to this first cinematic outing of the greatest secret agent the world has ever known, I’m confident you’ll be shaken and stirred.

Savannah Guthrie
We Need Proof of Life On Nancy

Published
February 4, 2026
6:00 PM PST

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Some movies don’t just lodge themselves in your memory — they sprawl out and build a little annex, like the oddball friend at a slumber party insisting everyone watch something weird he smuggled from the back shelf of the video store. The breakthrough 1953 film, House of Wax, starring legendary horror star Vincent Price, is one of those films. It sits right beside Tourist Trap, Phantom of the Wax Museum, and even a few stray Night Gallery segments that stuck to your ribs. Those were stories with some weight on them, a little tragedy in the corners, the kind that made you feel like you were stepping into someone else’s private obsession.

But where House of Wax plays like the ballroom version of the genre — velvet curtains, operatic dread, all that tragic grandeur — Waxwork from 1988 kicks the side door open, wearing mismatched shoes and quoting every horror movie it’s ever rented. It’s the punk nephew crashing the fancy family reunion, bringing the spirit of Creepshow, the playful chaos of The Monster Squad, and the anything-goes attitude that fueled late-night Tales from the Darkside reruns. Waxwork doesn’t just riff on its predecessors; it ransacks the attic of horror history and pulls out everything — Dracula, zombies, werewolves, sadistic aristocrats — with the gleeful confidence of a movie that knows exactly what kind of midnight audience it was born to entertain. It’s cinematic mischief, but mischief made with love.

A Museum Where the Exhibits Don’t Just Come to Life, They Swallow You Whole

Image via Vestron Pictures

If you’ve never seen Waxwork, the elevator pitch tells you exactly what kind of ride you’re in for: a group of college kids wanders into a mysterious wax museum that popped up in town like a weed after a rainstorm. The curator — David Warner, doing that sly, half-charmed, half-menacing thing he could do without breaking a sweat — sizes them up with a look that isn’t quite welcoming and definitely not safe. The whole place feels tilted, like someone staged it five minutes before they walked in.

Then the first student steps too close to an exhibit, and the floor drops out. Literally and figuratively. Waxwork’s big trick — and it’s such a good one you can’t even be mad at how bonkers it is — is that each display is a portal. Get too close to Dracula’s dinner table, and suddenly you’re at Dracula’s dinner table for real, with blood on the menu. Wander toward the zombie setup, and suddenly you’re knee-deep in this grimy, George Romero-tinged wasteland that looks like somebody kicked on a fog machine they found in a high-school auditorium closet. Werewolves, mummies, the Marquis de Sade — it’s all crammed in there. This isn’t a museum; it’s a rowdy horror sampler that grabs whoever’s closest.

It’s a concept that shouldn’t feel this fun, but director Anthony Hickox leans hard into the pulpy chaos. He doesn’t tidy the edges or even try to. Waxwork is more mixtape than movie — a heap of genre detours glued together with a wink, a scream, and a bucket of fake blood that probably never quite came out of the carpeting. And somehow, that chaos makes it feel more affectionate than parody.

Where House of Wax Mourns Beauty, Waxwork Throws a Party in Its Ruins

Vincent Price’s House of Wax aches with its own grandeur. It wants you to feel the tragedy behind every glossy sculpture, each one a monument to obsession and heartbreak. You can almost trace the fingerprints in the wax, the way Price plays his madness, like he’s tuning sorrow into a melody. Waxwork, on the other hand, doesn’t mourn anything. It celebrates the carnage. Where House of Wax is cinematic opera, Waxwork is a punk band rattling a garage door. Instead of tragedy, Hickox gives us pure invention — the thrill of letting every monster loose at once and telling the audience, “You’ll keep up, don’t worry.” It’s not elevating horror; it’s reveling in it.

Related

This Forgotten Vincent Price Horror is One of the Few Films Set in This Famously Haunted Landmark

There isn’t much cinematic blood spilled in the Bloody Tower.

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And the cast knows exactly what kind of sandbox they’re in. David Warner plays the curator like a man who’s read every villain’s speech in existence and decided none of them were good enough. It’s camp as performance art. Then there’s Zach Galligan — earnest, a little wide-eyed, almost apologetically sincere — grounding the chaos. He ends up being the one steady presence in the room, the guy awkwardly holding the metaphorical flashlight while everything else whirls and snaps around him.

But Hickox’s real trick is threading that sincerity through all the genre mayhem. He’s not mocking the tropes, he’s creating a hodgepodge of them, similar to how a kid would dump all their toys into a huge pile to see what he could create from various combinations. Each world in the wax scenes reveals warmth, even the goofier ones. You never feel like the movie is punching down at horror. It’s clapping along with it.

A Love Letter Written in Blood, Rubber Masks, and VHS Static

Image via Vestron Pictures

For anyone who grew up watching late-night horror blocks or spent uncomfortable amounts of time in video stores clutching a tape with a monster on the cover — Waxwork hits like nostalgia with teeth. It carries the DNA of Creepshow, Fright Night, Monster Squad, and every scrappy anthology film that haunted the 2 a.m. schedule of stations too broke to buy better programming.

But it carves its own spot. It’s knowingly silly, but not a spoof. The film respects the styles it barrels through. You can feel the filmmakers winking, sure, but they’re also sweating. Waxwork is handmade horror — scrappy, clever, slightly lopsided, but full of actual pulse. That’s the thing with camp: it’s not laziness. It’s commitment… just with a smirk. And Waxwork commits. Even though it’s one of those films where you can see the seams on the monsters, you don’t mind. They’re unapologetic, and that adds to the charm because you can feel the love from the hand crafters who probably stayed up into the wee hours of the night to get them just right.

Why It Deserves a Spot Beside the Classics

Waxwork earns its cult status, not by being a flawless film, but because it’s not afraid to venture into the bizarre. It’s like that crazy uncle that makes the family cringe when he shows up at family gatherings with dad jokes and a cooler full of mystery sodas, but earns respect from the youngsters with a tattered copy of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine under his arm. You don’t ask it to behave. You ask it to liven up the night.

If House of Wax is your thing — the sweep, the style, the controlled unraveling — save a night for its unruly relative. Dim the room, let the nostalgia buzz a little, and slip into something stranger, bloodier, and way less predictable than anything Vincent Price ever polished for the screen. Sometimes horror works better when it doesn’t try to comb its hair. Sometimes messy is the point. And Waxwork? It’s alive and well.

Waxwork is available to stream on Prime Video and Tubi in the U.S.

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Release Date

June 17, 1988

Runtime

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95 minutes

Director

Anthony Hickox

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