Before we get into anything else, there’s news. Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter and music producer Yichao Liu, who performs under the name YI, is releasing a new single called “Change,” a collaboration with American recording artist Ameera Perkins, who has toured as a backing vocalist for Lady Gaga and Carrie Underwood. YI produced the track and sings alongside her. The song also brought together Grammy-winning engineer Francis Buckley, Grammy-winning record producer Mark Prentice, elite drummer Dhruv Mittal, and award-winning mixing engineer Matty Harris.
We sat down with YI recently to talk about the song, and along the way, the conversation turned into something bigger: where he thinks pop music is headed, and why he believes “Change” is his answer to that question.
Born in Qinhuangdao, China, YI started on classical guitar at age seven. Within a year, he was performing locally, and by 2011 he’d won the KAWAI music contest in his hometown. He kept at it through his teens, eventually taking second prize in the Fingerstyle Group category at the 2019 Qingdao International Guitar Festival.
Advertisement
His path then took him to Thailand, where he studied jazz and classical guitar in college and joined the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra as a choir member, performing under conductor Alfonso Scarano. He played jazz clubs around Bangkok, toured as guitarist for the bands Tea-quila and Haggai’s Boy, and in 2023 performed at the Thailand International Jazz Conference, one of Asia’s biggest jazz festivals.
That same year, he moved to Los Angeles to finish his degree at Musicians Institute, where he learned to arrange horns and strings and picked up serious production skills. His first real break as a producer came with “You Are Not the One,” recorded by American singer Leanna Baxter, which reached the semi-finals of the 2026 International Songwriting Competition.
More recently, YI stepped out from behind the boards to release music under his own name. His single “Set Me Free” hit number one on the Canadian iTunes pop chart and also charted in the UK. His follow-up, “In This Moment,” peaked at Canada’s iTunes pop chart number 3 as well. Besides his own release, his recent work also included “Heat Of The Moment” and “Feel Something” by American recording artist Ridge Dawson. Somewhere along the way, in between all of this, he started working on “Change”.
3Narici Entertainment
The Problem with Pop Right Now
YI has a theory about pop music, and he didn’t hold back when we asked about it. He pointed to how each decade seems to get tagged with its own sound: Y2K for the 2000s, new wave revival for the 2010s, and now, in the 2020s, what he calls the nostalgia era, where 80s synth sounds have made their way back into everything from Sabrina Carpenter to Bruno Mars to Djo.
“It’s not necessarily bad,” he told us, “but if we’re supposed to be moving forward, going backwards this hard doesn’t really take the sound anywhere new. A lot of what’s out right now could just be an 80s song. So why not just listen to the actual 80s song?”
Advertisement
He brought up the backlash artists like Dua Lipa and Ava Max have faced over interpolation and sampling controversies, not to criticize them personally, but as a symptom. “It shows that people are struggling to find something that hasn’t already happened,” he said.
His answer isn’t to reject the past. It’s to take it apart and rebuild something from the pieces. “You’re not copying one genre and hoping it sounds fresh. You’re breaking everything that’s ever happened in music into small blocks and picking the good ones. That’s where it gets interesting.”
3SIPIstar Music Awards
Building ‘Change’
That idea is exactly what “Change” is built on. According to YI, the instrumentation leans into country textures, organs, piano, live drums, and a full string section, but then brings in saxophone with reverb and classic DX7 keys, the kind of tone you’d recognize from 80s radio. On the vocal side, he sings lead with a straightforward pop delivery, while Ameera’s vocals are double-stacked in a style that echoes early 2000s girl groups like Destiny’s Child.
“It’s not a tribute to any one era,” he explained. “It’s an experiment. That’s why it’s called ‘Change.’ Genres came from other genres. Jazz came out of classical music. R&B came out of jazz. Nobody called those copies, they were new things that people accepted. That’s what I’m trying to do here.”
He was just as deliberate about the lyrics. YI said he wanted to move away from what he sees as a trend of pop lyrics prioritizing catchy rhymes over actual meaning. “Change” is written for people trying to build a better life for themselves, encouraging them to hold onto hope and to find strength in numbers. “an individual power might seem weak,” he said. “but when we combine all the individual power together, we will be able to break through our dilemma and achieve our dreams, so never give up on what you believe, every hard-working person deserves a better life, and it will happen as long as you keep it up”.
Advertisement
What Ameera Says
Ameera Perkins, who worked with YI on production before this collaboration, said she’s glad to see him stepping into the spotlight as an artist in his own right.
“YI’s professionalism is at another level,” she told us. “He’s helped me with a lot of projects, and I was glad he was finally willing to get on stage himself. That’s part of why I invited him to sing with me. He did an amazing job, as always, with his songwriting and production.”
Grammy-winning producer Mark Prentice, who played bass on the track, echoed that sentiment about working with YI. “Yichao is a very deep musician,” he said. “It’s a genuine pleasure to work on his music.”
3Narici Entertainment
What’s Next
YI isn’t slowing down. Alongside longtime collaborator Francis Buckley, he’s already working on a new release that brings in Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Leah Haywood and RIAA Gold-certified producer John Ho.
For now, though, “Change” is the focus, both as a song and as a statement. Whether or not it becomes the sound that defines the next decade of pop, YI seems less concerned with being first and more interested in being part of the conversation.
Advertisement
“I don’t need to be the one who starts the next trend,” he said. “I just want to help figure out where it’s going.”
Netflix’s hit reality show “The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On” brought its latest season to Las Vegas, turning luxury apartment community Ariva into a temporary reality TV hub.
From customized cast residences to resort-style amenities used throughout filming, Ariva reveals what went on behind the scenes of hosting the two-month production and how the Las Vegas property became the perfect backdrop for the hit series.
Jessie Boskamp, Duty Manager of Ariva Luxury Residences — the premier resort-style apartment community in Southwest Las Vegas and the Official Luxury Apartments of the Las Vegas Raiders and Las Vegas Aces — sat down exclusively with The Blast to discuss what it was like filming the reality show on the property.
The new season of “The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On” on Netflix premieres on Wednesday, July 15. For residents of Ariva Luxury Residences in Southwest Las Vegas, there’s an elevated level of excitement to watch this season. For two months last year, the complex became the backdrop for the new season of the hit reality series.
“The production team first reached out to us around January 2025 while they were scouting locations in Las Vegas. After several site tours, they quickly saw that Ariva offered exactly what they were looking for,” Jessie Boskamp, Duty Manager of Ariva Luxury Residences told The Blast exclusively. “They toured our furnished residences and amenity spaces, met with our team to discuss logistics, and ultimately presented Ariva to their production team as the ideal location.”
From that point on, Ariva worked closely with production to prepare for filming. From mid-March to mid-May of 2025, the cast and production team were onsite “making Ariva their home throughout the filming process.”
What It Was Like Working With The Production Team During Filming At Ariva
When the season premieres on Wednesday, residents will get to see their home on the TV screen, and fans of the show will get to experience what it’s like living at Ariva.
“Viewers will see many different areas throughout Ariva. Nearly all of our amenity spaces were utilized, including our pools, fitness areas, lounges, and outdoor gathering spaces,” Boskamp said. “The cast also lived in our fully furnished, serviced residences, so those apartments became a major part of the filming as well.”
For the staff at Ariva, the experience was something they called “incredible.” They said the production team was “extremely professional, organized, and respectful of both our staff and our residents.”
Advertisement
“Film production moves at an incredibly fast pace, and it was impressive to watch everything come together,” Boskamp shared. “Communication was excellent throughout the entire process, and everyone we worked with was genuinely kind and collaborative.”
What Made Ariva The Right Fit For The Reality Show?
Many might wonder what it was about Ariva that fit the vibe the reality show was seeking. One step on property, and you might already know why Ariva was a “natural fit for the show.”
“Ariva offered everything production needed in one location,” Boskamp said. “Our spacious community allowed cast members to be spread throughout the property while still remaining close together. The wide variety of resort-style amenities also provided numerous filming locations and beautiful backdrops, giving the production team flexibility without ever needing to leave the property. Combined with our luxury furnished residences, Ariva was a natural fit for the show.”
Ahead of filming, the complex hosted “multiple planning and walkthrough meetings with the production team to determine which residences would work best for each cast member” as well as what spots on property would be best for filming.
“Each of the six primary cast apartments were thoughtfully designed with its own unique theme, color palette, furnishings, and decor to reflect different personalities and create distinct spaces on screen,” Boskamp said. “It was fascinating to watch that creative process unfold.”
Advertisement
More About Ariva Luxury Residences And Ariva Serviced Residences In Las Vegas
Ariva Serviced Residences are located within Ariva Luxury Residences. The Serviced Residences are fully furnished apartments designed for short term stays longer than 31 days. Each apartment offers a fully stocked kitchen with cookware, drinkware, and more, and has a washer and dryer, smart TVs, Frette linens, Matouk terry and Grown Alchemist bath products.
Residents who call Ariva home long term are part of Ariva Luxury Residences, which are not fully furnished, but have the same great appliances and features the Serviced Residences have.
Amenities on property include three pools, a hot tub, a state-of-the-art fitness center, yoga studio, business center, two lounges, basketball and volleyball courts, pet-friendly amenities, and Nourish, Ariva’s residents-only food truck, the first amenity of its kind at a Las Vegas apartment community.
Season 4 Of ‘The Ultimatum’ Premieres Wednesday, July 15
What happens in Vegas won’t likely stay in Vegas during this new season of the hit reality show hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey.
Six couples — Hayley and Blake, Ashley and Killian, Casey and David, Monica and Luke, Jessica Grace and Edris, and Alex and Jebin — must decide if they will move on from each other or get married in the new season of “The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On.”
Find out more about season 4 on the website. To learn more about Ariva Luxury Residences and Ariva Serviced Residences, visit the website. Season 4 premieres tonight, Wednesday, July 15.
Playing scary video games can be a great way to enjoy a quiet night in. Now, not all of these titles are going to please everyone. There’s hardcore horror mixed with psychological suspense and supernatural scares, there are “retro” titles folded in with more modern, visually striking games, and there are franchise titles you expected alongside other games you may never have heard of.
Whether you’re looking for survival horror or a psychological experience, there’s something here for every type of horror fan. In other words, it’s a curated list of some of the best scary video games around, but not necessarily an end-all, be-all. And if you’ve got one we haven’t played, we’d love to hear about it!
Advertisement
17
‘Darkwood’ (2017)
darkwood-gameImage via Acid Wizard Studio
Most of the entries on this list are 3D games, which is common since that is the most immersive, but Darkwood manages to be this scary using a top-down 2D perspective. Trapped in a mysterious, mutating forest somewhere in the Soviet Bloc, players are a nameless survivor in desperate need of escape. In order to survive, gamers must scavenge for resources, craft weapons, and explore the suffocating landscape during the day.
Darkwood is one of the most unique horror video games on this list, proving that it doesn’t need to be a traditional 3D experience to be absolutely terrifying. The top-down 2D perspective reaches its sense of dread by restricting vision to a cone, with threats outside the peripheral sight-line. Not to mention, Darkwood has a grotesque visual style and immersive sound design that really puts the player into the middle of fright. —Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck
Advertisement
16
‘Limbo’ (2010)
Limbo video gameImage via Playdead
A tightly constructed piece of video game storytelling, with a wide and hazy sense of atmosphere, Limbo is designed to discomfort you, and achieves its goal from moment one. You play a small child in a horrifying world, trying to find his sister while traversing a series of gruesome-death-instilling platforming puzzles. Feeling like an Eraserheadtake on an over-industrialized nightmare, this world exists in a surreal ether realm, with shadowy black-and-white monsters lurking on the margins of this dreamlike plane of existence.
So much of Limbo feels, in direct correlation to its title, unanswered. Where are we? Who are we? Why are we trying to find our sister? Who are these creatures? Are we as good a savior, as morally pure a hero as we think we are? All of these lurking questions sit and simmer, and that cut to black at the end punches it all without fail. —Gregory Lawrence
Advertisement
15
‘Fatal Frame’ (2001)
Image via Nintendo
For Westerners, Fatal Frame may not be the first title you think of when it comes to scary games, but thanks to the franchise’s focus on Japanese horror, it’s one of the best. It’s also one of the most unique of the bunch. Other games feature player protagonists who aren’t superheroes out to battle supernatural enemies; they’re just normal people trying to survive. But at least those everyday heroes are equipped with melee weapons, guns, or other items to combat the forces of darkness. In Fatal Frame, your only defense is a camera.
The original game sees you take control of Miku Hinasaki, who goes in search of her missing brother Mafuyu, who had in turn gone looking for a famous novelist in an infamously haunted mansion. (There’s quite the recurring theme in these survival games, isn’t there?) The only way the siblings can defeat the ghosts that haunt the building — and get to the bottom of a dark, ritualistic event that took place there — is by using the Camera Obscura, an antique camera that acts like an analog “ghost-buster.” This shift to first-person “shooter” here is your only weapon in the game, one that can be upgraded by scoring enough points when you defeat ghosts by taking their picture. The closer the spirit, the higher the points, but also the higher the risk of taking significant damage. It’s a clever mechanic that forces the player to confront the very ghosts that are hunting them with only a shutter, flash, and lens. But it’s the exploration of some really disturbing themes and Japanese horror stories that makes the original title in the franchise a standout. – Dave Trumbore
Advertisement
14
‘Outlast’ (2013)
Outlast video gameImage via Red Barrels
Horror games have found a second home on YouTube, as people enjoy watching their favorite content creators suffer, and one of the most popular games is Outlast. The player is a journalist who breaks into a remote asylum to learn of its mysteries. However, players learn that it is overrun by deranged mutants, and now, they need to escape the haunting location as everything inside tries to kill them.
Outlast popularized a specific, grueling brand of modern horror by forcing total vulnerability, and with no ability to fight back, running is the only option. This game will make the player feel helpless, transforming the gameplay into a relentless chase of nonstop terror. Outlast is a horror classic and one of the scariest modern video games. —Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck
Advertisement
13
‘The Evil Within’ (2014)
The Evil Within Game
Image Via Bethesda Softworks
A survival horror game by the original creator of Resident Evil, The Evil Within is an extremely brutal experience that gives you almost no moments of reprieve. Everything is terrifying 100% of the time, and you rarely have enough bullets to feel anywhere close to safe.
You play as a police detective trapped inside the mind of a killer, traveling through twisted environments and fighting horrendous enemies, all based on the killer’s memories and emotions. In classic RE fashion, you don’t have the ability to defeat every single enemy, so you have to pick your battles carefully and get used to holding down that sprint button. The imaginative level design and the upgrade system are rewarding gameplay loops, but nothing holds a candle to the game’s terrifying boss fights. These are frantic confrontations with genuinely frightening monsters, and each victory you manage to eke out feels extremely narrow. The story is a little heavy on gibberish and ultimately doesn’t make a ton of sense, but The Evil Within is such a fun spookfest that you won’t really mind too much. —Tom Reimann
Advertisement
12
‘Eternal Darkness’ (2002)
Image via Silicon Knights
We’ve talked a lot about survival horror and psychological torment in this list of scary games, but we’ve yet to address one of the smartest twists in the genre: A sanity meter. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem is largely cited as the first game to add such a mechanic, especially in the West, though earlier Japanese releases, Laplace no Ma and Clock Tower, did this first. It’s also listed among the best GameCube games, but is often lost in the conversation among the more globally recognizable franchises. But for our money — and our nerves — it’s still one of the best when it comes to getting under your skin. So good, in fact, that Nintendo patented the standout “Sanity Effects” mechanic.
Eternal Darkness can deliver a slightly different gameplay experience every time you pick it up. The hardcore gamers out there will take the “red” path, while completionists will have to tackle all three paths if they want to play any one path twice. The game gives you a level or so to warm up and get used to the combat style, but once you hit chapter two, keep an eye on your sanity; it’ll drop whenever an enemy spots you, and things will get increasingly horrifying from there on out. Those effects range from slight visual changes like a tilted camera angle or environmental effects to full-on mind-blowing fourth-wall-breaking moments that’ll have the player questioning whether or not their game is actually malfunctioning. It’s brilliant stuff, and it paved the way for many other games that came after it. —Dave Trumbore
Advertisement
11
‘Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly’ (2003)
fatal-frame-yuri-social-featuredImage via Koei Tecmo
The first game had already made an appearance on this list, but Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly is even scarier, placing it above the first. Twin sisters Mio and Mayu Amakura are wandering through the woods when Mayu chases a mysterious crimson butterfly. Thus, he enters Minakami Village, which has a twisted tradition, with the sisters using their camera to exorcise the dead and escape.
It may be an old game, but the dated graphics add to the frightening atmosphere. Most players want to be as far away from the danger as possible in a horror game, but Fatal Frame II forces the player to get up close. This incredible game design decision made the horror experience much more intimate, scary, uncomfortable, and panic-inducing. —Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck
Advertisement
Advertisement
Collider Exclusive · Horror Survival Quiz Which Horror Villain Do You Have the Best Chance of Surviving? Jason Voorhees · Michael Myers · Freddy Krueger · Pennywise · Chucky
Five killers. Five completely different ways to die — if you’re not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one.
🏕️Jason
🔪Michael
💤Freddy
Advertisement
🎈Pennywise
🪆Chucky
Advertisement
01
Something feels wrong. You can’t explain it — you just know. What do you do? First instincts are the difference between the survivor and the first act casualty.
Advertisement
02
Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong? Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply.
Advertisement
03
What is your most reliable survival asset? Every survivor has a quality the villain didn’t account for. What’s yours?
Advertisement
04
What kind of fear is hardest for you to fight through? Knowing your weakness is the first step to not dying because of it.
Advertisement
05
You’re with a group when things start going wrong. What’s your role? Horror movies are brutally clear about who survives group situations and who doesn’t.
Advertisement
06
What’s the horror movie mistake you’re most likely to make? Honest self-assessment is a survival skill. Denial is not.
Advertisement
07
What’s your best weapon against something that can’t be stopped by conventional means? Every horror villain has a weakness. The survivors are always the ones who find it.
Advertisement
08
It’s the final scene. You’re the last one standing. How did you make it? The final survivor always has a reason. What’s yours?
Advertisement
Your Survival Odds Have Been Calculated Your Best Chance Is Against…
Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.
Advertisement
Camp Crystal Lake · Friday the 13th
Jason Voorhees
Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.
Advertisement
He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn’t strategise, doesn’t adapt, doesn’t outsmart. He simply pursues.
Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most victims gives you a genuine edge.
The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started thinking about terrain, water, and distance.
You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone who simply refused to be where he expected.
Haddonfield, Illinois · Halloween
Michael Myers
Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it’s too late for anyone who isn’t paying close enough attention.
Advertisement
But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly wrong, the silence where there should be sound.
Michael’s power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia — the fact that nothing ever looks wrong until it already is.
Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had.
You are not a victim waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is wrong — and acts on it.
Elm Street · A Nightmare on Elm Street
Freddy Krueger
Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.
Advertisement
You are harder to destabilise than most. You’ve faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and you haven’t looked away.
The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose to face it rather than flee from it.
Freddy’s greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who refuses to give him the fear he feeds on.
Your psychological resilience — the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes unreliable — is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here.
Derry, Maine · It
Pennywise
Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.
Advertisement
The Losers Club didn’t survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly.
You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than turning away.
That directness — the refusal to let fear fester in the dark — is Pennywise’s worst nightmare.
It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear tastes like nothing at all.
Chicago · Child’s Play
Chucky
Chucky’s greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it’s already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.
Advertisement
You don’t have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present — and you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance.
Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that delay faster than almost anyone.
Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate scepticism — rather than dismissing it because it seems absurd — is the exact quality that keeps you breathing.
Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing.
Advertisement
10
‘The Last of Us’ (2013)
Ellie and Joel in The Last of UsImage via Naughty Dog
The Last of Us comes at you from all angles. The combat sequences, in which your playable character Joel hides, stalks, and does his best to reckon with the corrupted, vilely designed zombies (not to mention the corrupted, vilely temperamented humans dealing poorly with this post-apocalyptic warzone), can truly take your breath away. They are visceral, physical, immersive pieces of game design that raise the stakes, alongside your heart rate, with ruthless, borderline cruel efficiency.
And then, psychologically, The Last of Us hits you harder than twelve Bloaters in a row. Its cold open? Emotionally devastating. Its moments of mercy and comfort, including that beautiful giraffe? Only momentarily relieving, the inevitable calm for the doubly devastating storm. Its central relationship, between Joel and Ellie? It’s one of the best duos in all of video game history. It’s rich and complicated and both the only life raft both characters have and predicated on all kinds of unhealthy coping mechanisms. The scariest part of The Last of Us might bethe unending, relentless, borderline cruelly efficient sprint toward fate, toward realizing you don’t have control after all. A frightful game no matter how you slice it (with a great TV show based on the game to match). —Gregory Lawrence
Advertisement
9
‘SOMA’ (2015)
A robot glitching the screen in SomaImage via Frictional Games
Frictional Games is an incredible gaming studio with multiple classics, such as SOMA. After suffering a severe injury in a car crash, Simon Jarrett agrees to an experimental brain scan, but wakes up a hundred years later in an underwater facility. Only he and biomechanical monstrosities are left, with him needing to descend deeper to find a digital utopia.
The biomechanical monsters are terrifying, and their tragic concept only adds to the overall sense of gloom. However, the true scariness of SOMA comes from the suffocating sense of dread through the narrative and philosophical themes. The more realizations that the player experiences, the more psychological terror takes over them, building into a heavy weight of darkness when the credits roll, proving it is a video game with no flaws. —Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck
Advertisement
8
‘Alien: Isolation’ (2014)
A low to the ground first-perspective shot of a xenomorph standing in a semi-crouch and facing the camera with its teeth bared in the Alien: Isolation video gameImage via Sega Corporation
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game that casts you as the daughter of Ellen Ripley, making her way through a chaotic space station in search of answers about what happened to her mother. The station has been split up between factions of humans, so you’ll have to deal with Mad Max-style scavengers and crazed androids while trying to make as little noise as possible to avoid attracting the alien. When the alien shows up, you can try hiding in lockers and beneath tables and such, but be warned: The alien is a psychic and will find you before too long regardless of how quiet you’re being.
The tension and atmosphere are pitch-perfect for fans of the 1979 Ridley Scott film (it even features DLC where you can play as the crew of the Nostromo in a mini-mission). It’s a little too long for its premise to sustain, but when it’s at its best, Alien: Isolation is a satisfyingly scary experience that will make even the toughest players panic. —Tom Reimann
In a world gone mad, we could all use a little simple, silly, innocent fun. You take your kids to the theater to relax and create a memory you’ll share together. You put on a streaming show to make them giggle while you make dinner. You buy a ticket with your friends to a big-budget blockbuster to watch guys battle with swords, forget how much you hate your boss, and stop worrying about whether AI is going to take away your job.
That’s how most people view entertainment’s place in their life. For it to keep filling that need, they have to be able to trust it.
Unfortunately, entertainment can’t be trusted. The entertainment you watch has never been less interested in giving you what you want. It has other plans, and this has never been truer than it is right now, in 2026.
Advertisement
Watch the video version on Screenwashed
This is the story of how The Muppets and The Odyssey intersected in 2026 to destroy the last shred of trust audiences had left.
Making Muppets Hate Kids
On the surface, 2026 seems like a perfect time for a revival of The Muppet Show. The original was a family classic that spawned a generation of wholesome, non-controversial entertainment. Exactly the kind of thing that’s been missing from the usual streaming offerings.
So Disney hired legit Muppet fan Seth Rogen to revive the iconic show and released it to the world.
Rogen’s new version of the classic variety series was immediately praised for the way it looks, sounds, and feels exactly like the iconic Jim Henson series from the 1970s and 1980s. On that front, it was a triumph. A perfect production. Except there’s one big difference: Jim Henson’s version was the ultimate in wholesome, family-friendly entertainment. Seth Rogen’s version only pretends to be.
Advertisement
It’s normal for family-targeted shows to work in a couple of edgy jokes that’ll go over the heads of little kids who might be watching with them. That’s part of the fun for parents.
However, what would you think if instead of one or two sly adult references in your Pixar movie, there were twenty? Or thirty? What if all those sly adult references were only about one specific inappropriate thing? At what point would you start thinking, “Hey, is this Pixar movie trying to tell my kids something?”
That’s exactly what Seth Rogen’s The Muppet Show starts doing in its very first episode.
That episode number one is only thirty minutes long, but if you watch and keep track, you’ll discover at least ten sex references in those thirty minutes. Actually, not just references; most of them seemed to specifically revolve around celebrating full-on, willful hedonism and adulterous cheating.
Advertisement
There’s a joke where Sabrina Carpenter tells Kermit she likes kink. There’s an entire sketch that revolves around Piggy cheating on her lover. After that, it’s back to Sabrina Carpenter so she can brag to Kermit about banging a married man. Then there’s a segment with guest actress Maya Rudolph, who seems to be engaged in heavy petting with a grumpy Muppet in the audience.
Two of the musical numbers, one of which is sung entirely by rats, are popular songs about sex. The third song has Piggy replace Kermit as the object of Sabrina Carpenter’s sexual desire, just to make sure the sex references weren’t all heterosexual.
Defenders might argue these gags are structured so that little kids won’t realize what’s going on. But it’s a significant portion of the first episode, which is a very weird thing to do for your debut episode of The Muppet Show. It’s not the jokes themselves so much as the volume of them, crammed into a short thirty minutes of otherwise perfect Muppet silliness.
Seth Rogen doesn’t have any children, and he’s been loud about how happy he is to be childless. He doesn’t like them, doesn’t care about them, so even though he was supposed to make a show for kids of all ages, it’s clear that he decided to make one for adults and lie about it.
Sexualizing children has become common in family-friendly entertainment, and the people making that entertainment never warn parents about any of it before they see it. They do that because no one would buy a ticket if they knew Zootopia 2 featured a weird predator-prey orgy scene for no apparent reason.
Advertisement
Trojan Horse Messaging
None of this is an accident; it’s Trojan Horse Messaging.
Trojan Horse Messaging is a persuasion technique in which a message is packaged inside a trusted, harmless, or ideologically acceptable frame so that a different, contradictory, or more objectionable idea can be introduced without triggering the audience’s normal resistance.
It doesn’t only apply to family films slipping in sexual content to groom children into adult behavior. Sometimes it’s ideological dishonesty.
Angel Films recently released a new animated version of the famous George Orwell novel Animal Farm. The original Orwell book is infamous for being entirely anti-communist, and Angel Films, which is theoretically a conservative movie studio, was happy to tout its movie as being equally anti-communist to its conservative, Karl Marx-hating audience.
Except their movie isn’t really anti-communist. This new version of Animal Farm twists Orwell’s story into a parable about the dangers of capitalism, effectively Trojan-horsing parents into taking their children to learn one thing, while intentionally teaching them exactly the opposite.
Advertisement
Trojan Horse Messaging isn’t limited to children; it’s being used on you, too.
It’s why, ironically, director Christopher Nolan’s 2026 version of The Odyssey race-swapped Helen of Troy, despite the story being a Greek myth about Greek people and the iconic, foundational story explicitly describing Helen as being pale-skinned and Greek.
Loving Hats In A Fedora Hating World
Replacing the most beautiful Greek woman who ever lived with an African woman isn’t an innocent act of creative casting. This is Iconic Reconditioning.
Iconic Reconditioning is the deliberate alteration of a beloved character’s defining symbol, trait, or image to shift audience attachment from the original meaning to a new, preferred one.
Advertisement
It’s hard to see what’s really happening with The Odyssey through the race angle of the situation, so let’s put a different frame on it.
Imagine a new Indiana Jones where Indy throws away his Fedora in favor of wearing baseball caps. Then imagine the movie was made only because the filmmakers behind it hate Fedoras and want to make other people hate them, too.
Maybe the new baseball-cap-wearing version of Indiana Jones is well-acted and has amazing special effects. It wouldn’t matter; nobody would support it because it’s not Indiana Jones anymore. It’s some other guy in a different hat. People would hate it. No one would defend it, and the same people who made excuses for The Odyssey would be the ones leading boycotts against Indiana Jones and his baseball cap.
Christopher Nolan’s motives are no different from those of our hypothetical, fedora-hating Indiana Jones director. Only, instead of targeting your feelings on hats, he’s out to change your standards of beauty by stealing the most beautiful woman who ever lived label and applying it to someone totally different. He’s out to change your view of Western culture by rewriting its foundational stories and then pretending nothing happened. He’s using the story of the Trojan Horse, as an actual Trojan Horse, to screenwash you into sharing his worldview.
This isn’t a guess; it’s a fact. The movie’s cast went out and promoted the film by talking about how much they hate the source material because it’s too male or too white, or whatever, and Christopher Nolan himself admitted that the movie isn’t even based on Homer’s classic story but instead on a politically motivated, feminist reinterpretation of it, written in the modern era. Nolan says one of his primary goals in making the movie was to persuade his audience into abandoning what he deems as “cultural prejudice.” He wants to “do away with some of those assumptions.”
Advertisement
Imprisoning Your Audience With Betrayal
That might seem like at least they’re being honest about what kind of movie The Odyssey is, but most of these comments are being buried and hidden by its marketing campaign, which tells the potential audience that this movie is exactly the opposite of what it really is. There’s a reason the movie’s definitely not blonde Helen of Troy is only shown in a one-second flash in The Odyssey’s trailers, and it’s the same reason Seth Rogen pretended he was making a family-friendly version of The Muppet Show, while doing the exact opposite.
Because Seth Rogen’s version looks and feels so much like The Muppet Show, it’s likely many parents didn’t watch close enough to realize their kids are being fed a steady stream of sexualization. In the same way those parents saw Muppets and hit play on streaming, most people who buy tickets for The Odyssey will only see the trailers touting it as the next movie from the guy who made Inception and Oppenheimer, before making their decision. They’ll have no idea they’re wheeling Chris Nolan’s Trojan Horse directly into their brain.
It doesn’t matter if The Odyssey is good. It doesn’t matter if The Muppet Show is good. It doesn’t matter if you think the creatives did a good job making Star Trek’s message-heavy Starfleet Academy or the latest, diverse take on Lord of the Rings. The debate over the morality of this kind of screenwashing is not a question of storytelling. It’s a question of honesty.
At issue is something much, much bigger than opinions on joke quality or petty debates about skin color. What matters is whether filmmakers have the right to use screens to surreptitiously change or manipulate minds in ways their viewers would not consciously approve of.
Audiences have expectations. Bill your film as a comedy, and they expect to laugh. Position it as a horror movie, and they’ll rightfully be looking forward to a few scares. That doesn’t mean anyone expects to know the details of your story before they’ve watched. But it does mean people expect your intent in making your product to match their reasons for consuming it.
Advertisement
It’s like filling Pepsi cans with lemonade and then excusing it by telling consumers to stop complaining because it’s really good lemonade. It’s the dishonesty that’s the problem, not the quality of the liquid in the can.
When you lie to your audience about what you’re doing, you aren’t just manipulating them. You make them into the worst kind of slave: people who think they’re choosing freely, while you’re quietly stealing their free will.
Fantasy has been a popular genre on television for a long time now, but it’s really ramped up in recent years due to the success of various series in the early to mid-2010s. This has kick-started a trend across all streaming platforms, with many producing their own high-budget fantasy stories in order to bring unique worlds to life in such a way that wouldn’t have been possible just a few short decades ago.
However, with so many fantasy shows debuting over the last 10 years, it can be hard to pick just one. Many have risen above the standards of their station and have become moneymaking behemoths for their respective networks, garnering millions of viewers and rave reviews. These are the best fantasy TV shows of the last 10 years, which have earned their titles either due to their success or their inherent quality.
Advertisement
15
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ (2022–Present)
Galadriel and Sauron with weapons at each other’s necks in The Lord of the Rings- The Rings of PowerImage via Prime Video
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweris based on the vast legendarium written by J. R. R. Tolkien, which was later curated by his son, Christopher Tolkien. The show has generated a lot of buzz online, with many not particularly fans of how the story goes completely off the rails and tries to spin its own narrative rather than focusing on any of the stories that Tolkien actually wrote.
Despite this criticism, however, the series has been a massive success and is actually one of the most popular series on Amazon Prime Video. Two seasons in, and many of the most popular characters from Tolkien’s works have appeared, with much of the lore being expanded upon. While many Tolkien fans are less than impressed with this show, many casual viewers have come to enjoy it for what it is, especially for its high production value and brilliant acting performances.
Advertisement
14
‘The Witcher’ (2019–Present)
Liam Hemsworth holding a sword in a swamp in The Witcher Season 4Image via Netflix
The Witcherhas been having a bit of a rough go lately, what with its main actor being recast and reviews only seeming to get worse as time goes on. When it first started, however, this series was a major hit. At the time of its release, Game of Thrones had just ended, and people needed another dark fantasy series to fill the void. The first season of The Witcher proved to be exactly what people needed.
Unfortunately, since then, it has taken a bit of a decline in quality and has grown more and more removed from the source material written by Andrzej Sapkowski. Story-wise, the show is about a professional monster hunter called a Witcher who travels throughout a high fantasy world seeking bounties. This allows the show to depict some truly terrifying and grotesque beasts from various aspects of folklore, which is definitely one of its strong suits. While it may be struggling at the moment, The Witcher was a great series when it first started, and is still one of the best of the last 10 years.
Advertisement
13
‘Good Omens’ (2019–2026)
Good Omens’s Michael Sheen and David Tennant staring forward in shock.Image via Prime Video
Good Omensis a fantasy comedy series that has shockingly only received two seasons in the six years since its release. The show is based on a novel written by both Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Pratchett, in particular, became known for his Discworld novel series, a hilarious parody of typical fantasy tropes that has been a massive hit with fans of the genre.
While Good Omens doesn’t belong to the Discworld universe, it bears much of Pratchett’s similar style of humor, which has helped it appeal to seasoned fans of the novels and newcomers alike. The story follows an angel and a demon who have formed a forbidden friendship and who are determined to prevent the coming end of the world, despite their organizations’ desire to let the natural order of things progress. Comedic, endearing, and at times, even a little raunchy, Good Omens is a wonderful comedy series with a touch of magic that demands to be seen.
Advertisement
12
‘Wednesday’ (2022–Present)
Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams with wide eyes staring ahead in ‘Wednesday’ Season 2.Image via Netflix
Wednesdayis the spin-off of The Addams Familythat has taken the pop culture world by storm in recent years. Starring Jenna Ortega as the titular character, the series follows Wednesday and her family as they encounter various conflicts. The family is known for being eccentric, preferring doom and gloom to bright and preppy aesthetics, with some of their family members even being paranormal creatures.
The original sitcom run of The Addams Family in the ’60s reigns supreme as the greatest incarnation of the brand to date, but Wednesday is honestly a close second, as it brings back many of the most beloved and feared characters from the franchise while shifting its focus to one of its most popular characters. With a brand-new cast, intricate sets, and all the aspects of comedy and horror present in the original, Wednesday is one of the most explosive entries in the fantasy genre in years.
Advertisement
11
‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ (2023–Present)
Leah Sava Jeffries in armor fighting in Percy Jackson and the OlympiansImage via Disney+
Percy Jackson and the Olympiansis based on the novel series of the same name by Rick Riordan. Following two disastrous movie adaptations in the early 2010s, this Disney+ series tried, quite successfully, to get the brand back on its feet. This adaptation is much more faithful than the original movies and has so much more of the charm and wit that the books had, likely due to Riordan himself having a heavier hand in the show’s production.
The story follows Percy (Walker Scobell), a troubled youth who discovers he is a demigod, the child of a Greek god, and is sent to Camp Half-Blood to learn the skills he will need in order to survive in this dangerous, hidden world. Throughout the show, Percy and his friends face off against various adversaries from Greek myth, including Gorgons, Furies, and the Chimera. It’s a refreshing TV show that fans of the books seem to love, and which has scored very well with critics.
One Pieceis a live-action remake of the original anime series of the same name, which has been running since 1999. The series really hit the ground running and managed to maintain its momentum in its recently released second season. It’s been a massive critical success, earning high scores from newcomers and veteran fans alike.
The story is set in a fantastical world populated by pirates, who are all competing to find a missing piece of an ancient map, which will supposedly lead to the world’s greatest treasure. The main character is Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), a young and rambunctious pirate who has eaten a Devil Fruit, which allows him to stretch his body like rubber. The series has wonderfully quirky humor, high seas adventure, and superb action, which all contribute to its astounding success.
Advertisement
9
‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’ (2019)
The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance poster featuring the characters walking toward a purple landscape.Image via Netflix
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistanceis a prequel series to the 1982 Jim Henson film. This series takes audiences back to the weird and wonderful world of Thra, with elaborate sets and intricate puppetry. The story details how the Dark Crystal cracked and gave rise to two new species: the sage-like Mystics and the villainous Skeksis. Much of it follows how the Skeksis rise to power and form their own empire, enslaving the native Podlings and Gelflings of the planet using the power of the Dark Crystal.
Like the original film, this series is vibrant and absolutely beautiful. Updated film technology makes the meticulously designed sets and puppets feel that much more real and interesting to look at. Despite earning the seal of approval from critics and audiences alike, Netflix unceremoniously cancelled the series after just one season, which many fans still haven’t forgiven them for.
Advertisement
Collider Exclusive · Middle-earth Quiz Which Lord of the Rings Character Are You? One Quiz · Ten Questions · Your Fate Revealed
Advertisement
The road goes ever on. From the green hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Ten questions stand between you and the truth of who you are. Answer honestly — the One Ring has a way of revealing what we most want to hide.
💍Frodo
🌿Samwise
👑Aragorn
🔥Gandalf
Advertisement
🏹Legolas
⚒️Gimli
👁️Sauron
🪨Gollum
Advertisement
01
Advertisement
You are handed a responsibility that could destroy you. What do you do? The weight of the world falls on unlikely shoulders.
02
Advertisement
Your closest companion is heading into terrible danger. You: True loyalty is revealed not in comfort, but in crisis.
03
Advertisement
Enormous power is within your reach. Your instinct is: Power corrupts — but only those who reach for it.
04
Advertisement
What does “home” mean to you? Where we long to return reveals who we truly are.
05
Advertisement
When a battle is upon you, your approach is: War reveals what we are made of — whether we like it or not.
06
Advertisement
Someone comes to you for advice in their darkest hour. You: Wisdom is not knowing all the answers — it’s knowing which questions to ask.
07
Advertisement
How do you see yourself, honestly? Self-knowledge is the most dangerous kind.
08
Advertisement
Which of these best describes your relationship with the natural world? Middle-earth speaks to those who know how to listen.
09
Advertisement
You encounter a wretched, pitiable creature who has done terrible things. You: How we treat the fallen reveals the height of our character.
10
Advertisement
When the quest is over and the songs are sung, what do you hope they say about you? In the end, we are all just stories.
The Fellowship Has Spoken Your Place in Middle-earth
Advertisement
The scores below reveal your true character. Your highest number is your match. Even a tie tells a story — the Fellowship was never made of simple people.
💍 Frodo
🌿 Samwise
Advertisement
👑 Aragorn
🔥 Gandalf
🏹 Legolas
⚒️ Gimli
Advertisement
👁️ Sauron
🪨 Gollum
You carry something heavy — and you carry it alone, even when you don’t have to. You were not born for greatness, and that is precisely why greatness chose you. Your courage is not the roaring, sword-swinging kind; it is quiet, stubborn, and terrifying in its refusal to quit. The Ring weighs on you more than anyone can see, and still you walk toward the fire. That is not weakness. That is the rarest kind of strength there is.
Advertisement
You are, without question, the best of them. Not the most powerful, not the most celebrated — but the most essential. Your loyalty is not a trait; it is a force of nature. You would carry the person you love up the slopes of Mount Doom if it came to that, and we both know you’d do it without being asked. The world needs more people like you, and the world is lucky it has even one.
You were born to lead, and you have spent years running from it. The crown is yours by right, but you know better than anyone that right means nothing without the will and the worthiness to back it up. You are tempered by loss, shaped by long roads, and defined by a code of honour you hold to even when no one is watching. When you finally step forward, the world shifts. Because it was always waiting for you.
Advertisement
You have seen more than you let on, and you say less than you know — which is exactly as it should be. You are a catalyst: you do not fight the battles yourself, you ignite the people who can. Your wisdom comes not from books but from an age of watching what happens when it is ignored. You arrive precisely when you mean to, and your presence alone changes what is possible. A wizard is never late.
Graceful, perceptive, and almost preternaturally calm under pressure — you see things others miss and act before others react. You do not need to make a scene to be remarkable; your presence speaks for itself. You are loyal to those you choose to stand beside, and that choice is not made lightly. You have lived long enough to know that the most beautiful things in this world are also the most fragile, and that is why you fight to protect them.
Advertisement
You are loud, proud, and absolutely formidable — and beneath all of that is one of the most fiercely loyal hearts in Middle-earth. You don’t do anything by half measures. Your friendships are forged like iron, your grudges run as deep as mines, and your courage in battle is the kind that makes legends. You came into this fellowship suspicious of everyone and ended it willing to die for an elf. That is not a small thing. That is everything.
You think in centuries and act in absolutes. Order, dominion, control — not because you are cruel by nature, but because you have decided that the world left to itself always falls apart, and you are the only one with the vision and the will to hold it together. You were not always this. Something was lost, or taken, or betrayed, and the version of you that stands now is the answer to that wound. The tragedy is that you’re not entirely wrong — just entirely too far gone to course-correct.
Advertisement
You are a study in contradiction — pitiable and dangerous, cunning and broken, capable of both cruelty and something that once resembled love. You are defined by loss: of innocence, of self, of the one thing that gave your existence meaning. Two voices war inside you constantly, and the tragedy is that the better one sometimes wins, just not often enough, and never at the right moment. You are a warning, yes — but also a mirror. We are all a little Gollum, given the right ring and enough time.
Advertisement
8
‘The Wheel of Time’ (2021–2025)
Sandra Yi Sencindiver s Lady Amalisa leading the channelers in battle in ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 1.Image via Prime Video
Advertisement
The Wheel of Timeis adapted from a series of 15 novels by Robert Jordan, which was later finished by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s untimely death. The story centers on a chosen individual known as the Dragon Reborn, a being who is said to wield immense magical power. As the end of the world approaches, the Dragon Reborn is destined to either save the world or to destroy it.
It got off to a bit of a rocky start, but each subsequent season only proved to get better and better. The third season was definitely its best and attracted millions of viewers. It’s a travesty that Amazon Prime Video decided to cancel it right as it was hitting its stride. This sparked an enormous fan campaign online to try and save the show, which goes to show how many people adored it. While some die-hard fans of the novels weren’t impressed with how different it was, the series attracted a lot of new fans to the brand and ended up being pretty incredible towards the end of its run.
7
‘His Dark Materials’ (2019–2022)
Sian Clifford as Lady Salmakia the Gallivespian in His Dark Materials Season 3Image via HBO
Advertisement
His Dark Materialsis an adaptation of the novels of the same name by Philip Pullman. This is actually the second attempt at adapting them, as there was a movie in the 2000s, but it never received a sequel due to how awful it was. This HBO original series was a much more faithful and exciting adaptation of the beloved fantasy novels, and was curated with such love and care that it’ll make book readers giddy over all the tiny details and Easter eggs.
The story is set on an alternate version of planet Earth, one ruled by a shadowy and oppressive corporation. In the midst of chaos, one girl is destined to bring down the corporation and save the planet. The show is rife with magic, fantastical creatures, and even some aspects of steampunk, so it’s really unlike most fantasy series. It might be a bit underrated as far as HBO series go, but it’s worth every second of watch time.
6
‘The Dragon Prince’ (2018–2024)
Nova stares at the sky with a hand outstretched in The Dragon Prince.Image via Netflix
Advertisement
Ordinarily, fantasy shows with a lot of lore behind them usually have some sort of source material to fall back on, typically a novel or series of novels. The Dragon Princeis an exception in this regard, as it is completely original. The story takes place on the continent of Xadia, where a war has broken out between the magical elves and dragons and the non-magical humans, who are conquering as much territory as they possibly can.
The 3D animation in this series is absolutely stunning, and it makes sure to use lots of bright and unconventional colors to really give it the feel of being magical. The series received a whopping seven seasons before the showrunners decided the story was complete and brought it to a close. While it is a touch underrated, fantasy fans have come to adore this series, which is precisely why it lasted as long as it did.
The vocalist explained why she did not join the celebrity lineup at the singer’s wedding to her NFL footballer partner, citing work commitments to her former boyfriend as the reason.
Shania Twain has been a longtime fan of the Grammy winner, praising her amazing work ethic and commitment to art, much like Taylor Swift has praised her all these years.
5Tammie Arroyo / AFF-USA.com / MEGA
The Canadian singer, in a catch-up with ETalk on Tuesday, July 14, expressed that she would have gone miles to be there because it would have been such a lovely experience. In an interesting twist, Twain revealed that she was held up fulfilling contract terms with Styles.
The former One Direction singer onboarded Twain to perform on the opening night of his 12-show residency at Wembley Stadium in London. Styles’ show clashed with Swift’s July 3 wedding, which was held at Madison Square Garden.
Advertisement
Styles and Swift dated between 2012 and 2013 in a highly publicized relationship, and their split fueled several conspiracy theories. Twain, in the interview, however, shared that she might redeem this moment during Styles’ wedding if he asks for her attendance at the event in advance.
Ironically, Styles’ current partner, Zoë Kravitz, was seated at Swift and Kelce’s wedding, partying with the couple until the middle of the night.
Twain Highlighted Similarity Between Her And Taylor Swift’s Journey
In 2024, Twain made some confessions in an interview with Haute Living about how she carved out a name for herself in the entertainment industry. The singer stressed that the whole time she was trying to be her original, authentic self, embracing her expressiveness with confidence.
As shared by PEOPLE, Twain then revisited instances where Swift had praised her in the past, praising her dedication and commitment to herself and her craft. Although people often call Swift an ambitious artiste, Twain added that her reality is much more than that, in her words:
“She’s an extremely hard worker, and I’m sure she’s got giant goals. But it’s not all about ambition: it’s about passion and committing yourself to your passion.” Twain also established that they are similar in their approach to career goals, embracing perseverance and reaping the rewards.
Advertisement
Inside Harry Styles’ And The ‘Shake It Off’ Singer’s Defunct Relationship
Styles and Swift have continued to maintain a mutual friendship over a decade after they dated. As shared by TODAY, the end of that relationship birthed Swift’s “1989” album, which came two years after their relationship.
Towards the end of 2012, rumors swirled about a possible romance between the duo when Styles spoke about Swift’s personality during an interview. By December, the pair were spotted walking together in Central Park before One Direction performed at MSG, where Swift married Kelce.
The relationship between Styles and Swift finally became clear on New Year’s Day in 2013, when they were spotted kissing during “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” in New York’s Times Square.
That same January, Swift was pictured alone on a boat leaving the Virgin Islands days after they both arrived there. She later referred to the incident in her song “Is It Over Now.”
Zoë Kravitz Earned All The Praises For Styles’ Renewed Happiness
The actress and Styles began dating last year after they were spotted together in August 2025, and they engaged 8 months later, in April 2026. Sources also confirmed to PEOPLE that the couple have matching tattoos and have carried their unbreakable bond into their individual exploits.
The couple also prioritize spending quality time together outside their busy schedules by going on outdoor dates. “Zoë is so supportive of him, and every time both of them are free, they spend as much time together as possible,” an inside source continued.
Advertisement
Sources in the couple’s circle raved about the extent of their support to each other, adding that they have talked about wedding plans. Kravitz has been supporting Styles on his “Together, Together” world tour in support of his fourth studio album “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.”
The Grammy winner has reportedly begun planning for the next phase after his engagement to Kravitz, which may involve welcoming a little one soon. As shared by The Blast, Styles has never hidden his love for kids as he previously took a break from performing to be a part of his niece’s life, an experience that changed his perspective on life.
In January, an insider had revealed that the singer really wants a baby, and now that he is settling down with Kravitz, it may have intensified. Styles was beyond excited to be part of that experience as he watched his niece blossom.
“My sister had a baby, and at any other time in my life, I would have missed a lot of that. It was really obvious that was where I wanted to be,” the singer had explained previously. As for his relationship with Kravitz, everyone in his circle has testified to the positive influence she has had on his life as he has begun to open up more.
Sam Worthington in I Will Find YouImage via Netflix
After a full month of release on Netflix, the new mystery series I Will Find You is on the verge of entering an elite list. The eight-episode series, based on a book of the same name by bestselling author Harlan Coben, has spent the entire month at the top of Netflix’s viewership charts despite mixed reviews. During this month, the show has fended off competition from the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender— the big-budget live-action remake of the original animated series — which never managed to take the top spot. More recently, I Will Find You swatted away the high-profile Western series Little House on the Prairie, which debuted at the number-three spot on this week’s viewership chart.
Netflix remains the only streamer that makes viewership data public on a weekly basis. It also shares twice-yearly lists that offer more insight into the performance of every title on the platform. This week’s list tracks viewership in the week of July 6 to July 12, with I Will Find You retaining the number-one spot. The show raked in 11 million views this week, a drop from the previous week’s 16 million views. In its first week, the series accumulated 24 million views. It jumped to 34 million views in week two. Netflix has a 14-book deal with Coben, whose work has inspired hit shows across platforms.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor Sheridan Show Do You Belong In? Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn’t write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
Advertisement
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
Advertisement
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
Advertisement
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan’s universe is always absolute — and always costly.
Advertisement
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it’s crossed.
Advertisement
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan’s worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
Advertisement
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
Advertisement
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they’re defending.
Advertisement
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan’s world is never given — it’s established, maintained, and constantly tested.
Advertisement
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
Advertisement
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
Advertisement
10
When it’s over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan’s characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
Advertisement
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
Advertisement
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
Advertisement
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.
Advertisement
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Here’s the Show ‘I Will Find You’ Has to Overtake
But none has been as popular as I Will Find You, created by Robert Hull and starring Sam Worthington and Britt Lower. The show has accumulated more than 85 million views so far, which means that it is just 13 million views shy of overtaking this year’s His & Hers to become one of Netflix’s top 10 English-language shows of all time. Starring Tessa Thompsonand Jon Bernthal, His & Hers is sitting at 98 million views. Netflix tracks data across a title’s first three months, which means that I Will Find You has two more months to break into the top 10 chart. The show holds a 61% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “An average Harlan Coben adaptation that puts its cast to the test and has just the right formula to pass for breezy entertainment.”
Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Release Date
2026 – 2026-00-00
Advertisement
Network
Netflix
Showrunner
Advertisement
Robert Hull
Directors
Adam Davidson, Maggie Kiley, Maja Vrvilo, Brad Anderson
On paper, The Rock doesn’t necessarily sound like a movie we’d be celebrating 30 years later. Released in 1996, The Rock centers on a rogue Marine general (Ed Harris) who seizes control of Alcatraz with some of his men, threatening to attack San Francisco with chemical weapons unless compensation and proper honors are given to the families of soldiers who have died under his command. Nicolas CageandSean Connery play two of the people assigned to stop him — an FBI scientist and a British spy who has successfully escaped the notorious prison in the past, respectively. It’s a straightforward script that almost feels like Hollywood playing into its worst impulses. However, it is in the execution where The Rock really shines, creating something that stands alongside Terminator 2: Judgment Day,Heat, and The Matrix as one of the defining action movies of the modern blockbuster era.
It’s hard to say whether The Rock would as well as it does if not for the strong work by Cage, Connery, and Harris in the lead roles, but the three actors uplift this film above what one might think of it by reading just a plot summary. All together, it’s 1990s action film-making at its purest, with the cast fully embracing the cliché nature of the film’s plot, while also knowing when to focus on the moments that demand seriousness. By fusing these performances with stylized action, humor, and drama, The Rock feels timeless.
Advertisement
The Cast of ‘The Rock’ Elevates It Beyond a Clichéd Action Thriller
In The Rock, Cage portrays Dr. Stanley Goodspeed, a neurotic FBI biochemist who is brilliant in a lab but utterly hopeless when thrust into the field. Paired with Cage is Connery, who plays John Mason, a former British spy who has been locked up in prison for decades after being caught stealing US intelligence, and is the only man to ever break out of Alcatraz alive. They make for the perfect odd couple, with each bringing their own flair to the character that balances the other perfectly. Connery’s dry wit paired with Cage’s manic energy creates one of the most entertaining action duos of the decade. Even during quiet moments in between gunfire and explosions, the conversations remain engaging because these two actors are getting the best from one another, and you can feel it.
13 years after his last James Bond film, Connery is still channeling his iconic spy character, making even the most rudimentary exposition-laced dialogue into something more. He does this so well and with such charm that it’s led to some fan theories that the Mason character is actually James Bond himself. Meanwhile, Cage’s Stanley Goodspeed is anything but calm, cool and collected. Given that his expertise is in test tubes rather than guns, he panics, makes mistakes, and in contrast to Connery, spends much of the film simply trying to survive. Cage leans into his neuroses, and helps create a protagonist that we latch onto not just for his intelligence, but also because he is the audience surrogate.
On the flip side, there is Ed Harris’ General Francis X. Hummel. Harris portrays Hummel with a quiet dignity, rather than as a cartoonish villain, providing a nice counterbalance to Connery and Cage. Hummel’s circumstances are tragic and his goals noble, though his methods are indefensible. As a career soldier, one who has pulled the trigger and killed many times before, he does not relish violence. Rather, he is a product of his violence, and much of the film revolves around him being increasingly reluctant to carry out his threat. Harris’s brilliant portrayal of the film’s moral conflict is what sets The Rock apart and gives it an emotional complexity not seen in other movies of its genre.
Advertisement
‘The Rock’ Understands That Action Movies Should Be Fun
Nicolas Cage as Stanley Goodspeed in The Rock.Image via Hollywood Pictures
Despite the heavy thematic elements present throughout, The Rock knows that, at its heart, it is an action movie designed to see the good guys win and the bad guys lose. The screenplay never becomes a parody of itself, but it also never apologies for how absurd it is. For confirmation, one needs only look at Nicolas Cage launching one of the bad guys (portrayed brilliantly by the late Tony Todd) out a window using a missile while calling him “the Rocket Man.”
Its ultra-quotable dialogue makes the film endlessly re-watchable, and when paired with practical effects that still hold up even in the modern CGI era, The Rock sets the standard for what makes an action movie truly work. Even supporting characters are given memorable roles, helping to prop up the heroes and flesh out their characters.
As we honor The Rock‘s 30th anniversary, it remains one of the textbook examples of how to make an entertaining action movie that also has weight. In an era where more and more action movies begin to feel formulaic, The Rock understands that spectacle isn’t enough. Great action needs interesting heroes, villains, and crafty dialogue to make sure that the movies are elevated above the norm.
The comedian brought girlfriend Ana Amelia Batlle Cabral with him before emceeing the show for the first time.
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
Advertisement
Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim and her NFL star boyfriend, Myles Garrett, meanwhile, brought the heat when they stepped out in the Big Apple before heading into the venue to see who would win big off the field.
Although over a month has passed since the announcement was made, it seems that the pieces are still being picked up from the explosive news that Doctor Who had been put out to competitive tender. Despite the now-previous showrunner Russell T. Davies confirming that a Christmas special had been penned for 2026, and strong rumors that the hunt for a new titular Time Lord was underway, the rug was pulled from beneath Whovians’ feet when it was confirmed that not only was Doctor Who not going to return, but neither of those suggestions was true.
“This decision was not taken lightly, and we know it will be disappointing for fans,” read a statement from the BBC at the time of the announcement. “We are choosing to push forward to invest in the long-term future of the show, which ensures that when the TARDIS lands once more, it does so in all its glory.” The dust settling on this has allowed many to realize the benefits of the decision, especially following Davies’ disastrous second stint as showrunner, which included constant backlash, a lackluster partnership with Disney, and the strange early exit of star Ncuti Gatwa.
The time following the announcement has also allowed the incoming Director General of the BBC, Matt Brittin, to prepare his own statement on the show’s future, which was made all the more worrying when the former Google executive confirmed that the entire company would face major cuts under his tenure. “That’s a show that has regenerated multiple times in its 60-plus year history, and we’ll do so again,” Brittin said as the BBC published its annual report. “I think that’s one of the great things about the 100-year history of the BBC. We can do that, and we can creatively renew shows that people love, and we’ll be working hard on that right now.”
Advertisement
Advertisement
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
Advertisement
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
Advertisement
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
Advertisement
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
Advertisement
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
Advertisement
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
Advertisement
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
Advertisement
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
Advertisement
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
Advertisement
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Advertisement
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
Advertisement
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
Advertisement
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
Advertisement
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
Advertisement
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Advertisement
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
Advertisement
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Advertisement
Russell T. Davies’ Post-‘Doctor Who’ Project Is Going Stateside
One man definitely looking to move on from the Doctor Who noise is Davies, who recently delivered his first post-Who project in the UK to great acclaim. Titled Tip Toe, the drama starring five-time Emmy winner Alan Cumming earned rave reviews from critics, being called “an urgent state-of-the-nation drama” by Radio Times. Later this year, U.S. fans will have the chance to catch Davies’ new series as it was confirmed recently that it will soon stream on Starz.
You can stream the most recent Doctor Who seasons on Disney+. Stay tuned to Collider for the latest updates.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Release Date
2024 – 2025-00-00
Network
Advertisement
BBC One
Directors
Alex Pillai, Peter Hoar, Ben Chessell, Julie Anne Robinson, Jamie Donoughue, Amanda Brotchie, Dylan Holmes Williams
Advertisement
Writers
Steven Moffat, Pete McTighe, Kate Herron, Inua Ellams, Juno Dawson
Marcello Hernández showed off his comedic chops while hosting the 2026 ESPY Awards — and nobody was safe from his jokes.
The Saturday Night Live star, 28, opened the Wednesday, July 15, ceremony — held at David H. Koch Theater in New York City’s Lincoln Center — with a good-natured monologue filled with sports-centric jokes. He started off by mocking Tiger Woods following the golfer’s recent DUI arrest in Florida.
“I want to congratulate Caleb Williams, the quarterback for the Chicago Bears, who will be on the cover of the new Madden video game,” Hernández began. “Congratulations to Caleb — and Tiger Woods will be on the cover of Grand Theft Auto.”
The comedian also used a reference to the New York Knicks’ recent NBA Championship win for a dig about Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick‘s 48-year age gap with girlfriend Jordon Hudson.
Marcello Hernández delivered insightful dating tips in his American Boy stand-up special on Netflix, which he’s likely putting into practice. “Women are very scary and they live a violent life behind-the-scenes,” Hernández joked in his 2025 Netflix special, referring to ladies getting waxed. “A woman getting ready to leave the house is one of the […]
“The Knicks won their first [NBA] championship since 1973. To put it into perspective how long ago that was, in 1973, hockey players didn’t wear helmets,” Hernández pointed out. “Basketball had no three-point line and, in 1973, Bill Belichick was the age his girlfriend [Jordon Hudson] is now.”
Advertisement
When he was met with a tense response, the comedian replied, “That’s where you all draw the line?”
Boxer and influencer Jake Paul was also zinged, with Hernández quipping, “I must say it’s an honor to be here among so many incredible athletes … and Jake Paul, Jake, that’s just a joke. Don’t fight me. My dad and my stepdad are here and they’re both over 50 and I know that’s how you like ‘em.”
He even took a shot at last year’s ESPYS host Shane Gillis, whose hosting stint was divisive with viewers.
“I want to shout out last year’s host, Shane Gillis, who is watching this show like a true American,” Hernández said. “On his couch, drinking a beer while a Hispanic guy does his job.”
Advertisement
Prior to Hernández’s monologue, the ESPYs ceremony opened with a musical performance of “Show Starts Now” by the Savannah Bananas.
In June, ESPN announced that Hernández would make his hosting debut at the 2026 ESPYs. (He was announced as the “first-time and therefore undefeated host” during Wednesday’s show.)
“I started doing comedy 10 years ago in Cleveland, Ohio, and I would take the train 12 hours to New York to sell comedy tickets on the street in Greenwich Village in exchange for stage time,” he said in a statement at the time. “It is an honor and frankly feels crazy to be hosting the ESPYs this year in New York. I’m sure the energy is going to be great.”
Marcello Hernández speaks onstage during the 2026 ESPY Awards.Mike Coppola/Getty Images
“Marcello is one of the most electric young comedians today. His genuine enthusiasm for sports and his ties to New York City make him a natural fit to host this year’s ESPYs,” added Craig Lazarus, ESPN vice president and ESPYs executive producer. “We are excited to partner with him to celebrate the best moments in sports and look forward to the fresh take he’ll bring to the show.”
Hernández’s sports background extends back to his days as a collegiate soccer player at John Carroll University in Ohio. He ultimately quit during his sophomore year to pursue comedy after attempting to juggle classes in the day and soccer practice and comedy clubs at night.
Advertisement
“I had to tell my team with tears in my eyes that I’m quitting,” he recalled in a USA Today interview earlier this month. “That drove me to work hard because I was like, ‘If I’m going to quit something that I’m kind of good at, I should get really good at this new thing.’”
Marcello Hernandez’s parents are his muse. Hernandez was born and raised in Miami, Florida, by his mom, Isabel, and his stepdad. His mom and dad divorced soon after immigrating to America, but the Saturday Night Live star has remained close with both of them, as well as his stepfather. “I have two dads and a […]
Advertisement
According to Hernández, he’s “probably better now at comedy than I ever was at soccer.”
His decision to chase his comedy dreams paid off as he’s become a breakout star on Saturday Night Live since joining the NBC sketch series in 2022. Despite leaving soccer in his rearview, he recognizes the similarities between the sport and the iconic show.
Thank You!
You have successfully subscribed.
Advertisement
“Soccer’s a full-time job because you’re taking care of your body and I think that SNL is a full-time job because of the schedule, but also you’re taking care of your mind, you’re trying to write stuff,” he said. “It’s a much more mental game than a physical game but pretty demanding for sure.”
This summer, Hernández has been enjoying the FIFA World Cup action. In June, he took in the Colombia vs. Portugal match in Miami with Matt Damon and John Leguizamo. Rather than stick strictly to sports talk, Hernández used the opportunity to pick Damon’s brain about acting.
“You’re next to Matt Damon for long enough that you’re like, ‘If I don’t say something, I’m an idiot,’” he recounted. “So I ask questions and I try to get some game from him. When I played soccer, if I was ever with somebody that was playing on a better team or older than me, you try to ask them questions.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login