Entertainment
Ice Cube Fiddles With FaceTime While World Ends In 89-Minute Amazon Commercial
By Robert Scucci
| Published
The reason movies like Castaway (2000) and The Martian (2015) are such compelling watches is because it’s so fun to watch smart people solve problems. It’s the kind of wish fulfillment that makes sense to me on a molecular level. I worked as a corporate office drone in a previous professional life, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that about 80 percent of people are terrible at their jobs. When you run into somebody who can effortlessly navigate proprietary software without a moment of hesitation, it’s a borderline erotic experience.
That is all to say that when I fired up 2025’s War of the Worlds on Amazon Prime Video, despite the many warnings from my friends and loved ones, I actually felt hopeful that it wouldn’t be as terrible as its 4 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes made it out to be. I’m a strong advocate of giving misunderstood films a second chance, and War of the Worlds has that “damn, he’s good” element that I have so much fun tagging along for.
Truth be told, if Ice Cube released a three-hour film of him just performing data entry at a high level, I’d buy it on Blu-ray. He’s just a smart guy solving problems, and the way he navigates the many computer systems and networks at his disposal is straight-up poetry in wide-rimmed glasses.
The problem with War of the Worlds, though, isn’t Ice Cube’s, or anybody else’s performance for that matter. It’s the whole damn movie.
War of the Worlds plays out like 2014’s Open Windows, written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo, and starring Elijah Wood and Sasha Grey. Both films are screenlife thrillers, meaning we’re watching the entire film through devices in found footage-fashion. Where Open Windows succeeds, however, War of the Worlds fails miserably.
Open Windows stays enthralling because there are few characters, a very localized conspiracy, and a level of second-hand suspense generated through its voyeuristic framework. War of the Worlds takes place in the middle of a worldwide alien invasion, and it somehow feels like the stakes are lower. This could just be a genre limitation, but the whole screenlife and found footage approach seems to work much better on a micro level than a macro one.
The plot itself is rough, but there’s actually room for interesting storytelling here, which is why War of the Worlds is such a tough pill to swallow. Most of the story is told from Will Radford’s (Ice Cube) perspective. He’s a high-level employee working for the Department of Homeland Security, and he has remote access to surveillance software that allows him to watch just about anyone in excruciating detail.
One thing that I loved about this movie, not even kidding, is how good Will is at his job while also being a working-class, widowed father. He uses the technology at his disposal to keep tabs on his pregnant daughter Faith (Iman Benson), his conspiracy-theory-obsessed son Dave (Henry Hunter Hall), and Mark Goodman (Devon Bosick), Faith’s boyfriend and an Amazon delivery driver. One thing that feels realistic about Will’s position is that he’s constantly spying on his children, not out of malice, but because after his wife passed away he started overcompensating by making sure everybody else in his family is safe.
To me, this is the real story that needs to be told, and you don’t need to make H.G. Wells spin in his grave by violating his legacy one crappy CGI alien tripod at a time. As Will deals with family drama, he’s switching tabs, cracking passwords, accessing surveillance cameras, and killing it at his job tracking down hackers and cyber threats. I cannot stress this enough, I love watching Ice Cube navigate his elaborate setup with the grace of a gold medal figure skater, staring his family down through FaceTime with looks of stern bewilderment when he learns what his kids are up to when they think they’re not being watched.
Oh Yeah, This Is A Movie About Aliens
But therein lies the problem with War of the Worlds. The family drama is the more compelling story, and the alien invasion feels like an afterthought. Circling back to my Open Windows comparison, it’s hard to feel any emotional weight in Will’s exchanges with his family because it’s all done through screens. It’s sad to think that this is how we interact these days, and how Amazon, which distributes this movie, is partially responsible for the unhealthy relationship we have with our devices.
The world is literally ending, but we’re witnessing it through screens, as Ice Cube watches it through screens while FaceTiming everybody through their screens. It’s not even second-hand suspense. It’s tertiary, buried under multiple layers of abstraction that prevent you from feeling anything at all.
Had this production ditched the H.G. Wells connection entirely, and been, say, a hostage situation involving Will’s family, this whole thing could have had legs.
War of the Worlds Is Streaming On Amazon (They’re Totally A Real Company, Did You Know?!)
Speaking of Amazon, War of the Worlds, which is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, has a lot of product placement. There’s an entire sequence involving Mark, an Amazon driver, using an Amazon delivery drone to get a flash drive to Will so he can save the world. Thank God we now know Amazon is a real brand with real products and delivery services, because while I streamed this movie on Amazon, I had no idea I was only two clicks away from getting toiletries delivered to my doorstep, and three syllables away from Alexa listening to everything I say when I think I’m alone. Amazon!
Even if you get past the blatant product placement, War of the Worlds has an even more chilling implication. Will can access almost anything he wants through his DHS setup. He calls a Tesla to pick up his injured daughter, cranks the air conditioning when she complains about the heat, notices her phone battery is critically low, and remotely switches it to power-saving mode. This is framed as heroic, but it also suggests that all of our devices are capable of being controlled by people watching our every move.
I don’t know what to make of this, because unlike 2008’s The Dark Knight, there are no moral dilemmas here. At least Batman tried to justify turning Gotham into a surveillance state, even though he knew how dangerous of a precedent it would set, to catch somebody who had already caused irreversible damage to his community. In War of the Worlds, it almost feels like they’re trying to normalize this level of control, as if writers Kenneth A. Golde and Mark Hyman skimmed through 1984 and said, “Oh, this is GREAT!”
Did I mention that Amazon Prime is a real thing you can sign up for for the nominal fee of $14.99 a month? The membership practically pays for itself in saved shipping costs. Amazon. Wow.
Listen, War of the Worlds is trash. It’s not good. It aspires to be crappy. But I will say this: Ice Cube fiddling around on a computer is weirdly soothing to watch, and the second he launches a data entry ASMR channel on YouTube, I’ll be there.
War of the Worlds is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Entertainment
This robotic pool vacuum is basically a Roomba that can swim, and it’s $449 off today
SAVE 35%: As of May 6, you can get the Beatbot AquaSense 2 for $849 at Amazon, down from $1,298. That’s a 35% discount or $449 savings.
$849
at Amazon
$1,298
Save $449
I don’t have a pool (well, not a personal one, anyway; I live in an apartment complex), but I do have a robot vacuum, and I know the joy of watching a little machine clean my floors while I do other things. If you apply that same logic to pool maintenance (which I imagine is a lot more annoying than keeping your floors clean), then investing in a robo pool cleaner makes a lot of sense.
Mashable Trend Report
And, right now, you can get one of Amazon’s top-rated models for a fraction of the price. As of May 6, you can get the Beatbot AquaSense 2 for $849 at Amazon, down from $1,298. That’s a 35% discount or $449 savings. It’s also the lowest price we’ve seen this model go for. The only problem? Amazon marked this as a “limited-time deal,” and the countdown clock shows it ends in about 16 hours.
This thing works just like an indoor robot vacuum; it maps out its cleaning path and then uses an onboard 4-core CPU and 16 sensors to navigate using an S-path for the pool floor and an N-path to scrub the walls and waterline. It also has a “Double-Pass Scrubbing” feature for the waterline, so it’ll get the grimiest spots twice per pass. Bonus: When it’s done cleaning (or when the battery runs low), it automatically parks itself at the surface of the water so you don’t have to go diving to retrieve it.
Entertainment
Grandma Anne’s Secret Jell-O
I love making food that people appreciate — the kind of meal that makes the whole table go quiet at the first bite. But you know what I kind of love more? Making food that makes the whole table shriek like kids chasing the ice-cream truck.
So, when I happened upon a “secret Jell-O” recipe in chef Hillary Sterling’s new cookbook, Ammazza! — titled for the Roman slang term, which roughly translates to “wowee!” — I knew I had to share.
“This was the defining treat of my childhood,” explains Hillary. Growing up, her Grandma Anne always kept a bowl of Jell-O in the fridge. “She added halved grapes, and they’d hover in the middle while it ‘jellified.’ It tasted so cool, refreshing, and delicious.” As adults, Hillary and her sister tried to replicate it, but never managed to get the taste just right. That’s when their grandpa clued them in to Grandma Anne’s secret ingredient: sweet liqueur. “Turns out, our favorite childhood dessert was one part Grandma, one part frat party.”
Hillary’s own adaptation is a little more cocktail-party than frat, but just as festive: a ruby-red confection, studded with plums and served in a champagne coupe. Plus, it’s incredibly simple, with less than 10 minutes of active cooking time. And while I’ll give Grandma Anne the benefit of the doubt, and say she probably wasn’t trying to inebriate her grandchildren, this recipe has almost a shot’s worth of brandy per serving (wowee, indeed!). So, let’s maybe keep it at the grown-ups table.
Grandma Anne’s Secret Jell-O
from Ammazza! by Hillary Sterling
Serves 4
1/2 cup (115 g) prunes*
3/4 cup (180 ml) brandy
1 85-gram package cherry gelatin
*It’s true, prunes are dried plums. Here, they’re essentially rehydrated in the cooking process.
In a small pot, combine the prunes and 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the brandy. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat low, and cook until the prunes absorb all the liquid (about 5 minutes). Set aside. In a separate small saucepan, bring 1 cup (240 ml) of water to a boil. Place the gelatin in a heatproof bowl, then pour the hot water over it, whisking until fully dissolved (about 2 minutes). Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup (60 ml) of brandy and 1 cup (240 ml) of cold water.
Divide half of the gelatin mixture evenly among four glasses, filling them about halfway. (“This is the time to break out your heirloom wine glasses or champagne coupes,” says Hillary. “Style and presentation meant everything to my grandmother.”) Arrange the glasses on a small sheet pan for stability. Refrigerate, uncovered, until just set (about 1 hour).
Finally, divide the steeped prunes evenly among the glasses, gently placing them on top of the set layer. Top each glass with the remaining gelatin — the fruit will “float” as it sets. Cover and refrigerate until firm but still jiggly (about 1 hour more). Serve, and enjoy!
Thank you so much, Hillary! And congratulations on your beautiful cookbook.
P.S. More fun party recipes, including a chaotic pavlova and a pasta cake.
(Photos by Kelly Puleio. Excerpted with permission from Ammazza!, on sale now from Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Copyright © 2026 by Hillary Sterling)
Entertainment
The Bradley Cooper Horror Movie That Will Break Your Brain
By Sean Thiessen
| Published
What do you get when you cross Bradley Cooper with a Clive Barker horror story? The answer: 2008’s gory cult classic The Midnight Meat Train. Though a slashed theatrical release buried the film, this disturbing bloodbath has finally been unearthed on Tubi.
Riding The Rails Has Never Been More Dangerous
Bradley Cooper leads The Midnight Meat Train as Leon Kaufman, a photographer keen on capturing the grit of city life. After his portfolio is rejected by a high-profile gallery owner for being too safe, Leon ventures out in search of danger. Spoiler alert: he finds it.
Leon captures a brutal act of violence on a subway and becomes obsessed with tracking down a serial killer who has been enacting carnage on the late-night train for years. Leon spirals down a tunnel of mystery that slowly unravels a conspiracy that goes all the way to the bottom. He struggles to gain the support of the police and even his own girlfriend, portrayed by actress Leslie Bibb. The Midnight Meat Train speeds toward a sinister conclusion that is a must-see for horror fans.
This Bradley Cooper film is unlike any other. The Midnight Meat Train was adapted from Barker’s short story by Pet Sematary (2019) screenwriter Jeff Buhler and directed by Japanese filmmaker Ryûhei Kitamura. The result is a dark, tense, and revolting horror mystery, complete with the hyper-stylized sensibilities of 2008.
The film was originally set as the feature directorial debut of Patrick Tatopoulos, a special effects wizard and production designer who cut his teeth on movies like Independence Day, I, Robot, and Underworld. It was scheduled to shoot in New York City in 2005.
Tatopoulos was replaced by Kitamura and, in an effort to cut costs, Bradley Cooper and the rest of the gang shot The Midnight Meat Train in the Los Angeles metro system. Production finally began in the spring of 2007.
Lionsgate distributed the film but only opened the movie in the secondary theatrical market, limiting the release to about 100 screens. It was then quickly released on DVD, much to the filmmakers’ dismay. Clive Barker openly criticized Lionsgate’s Joe Drake for burying other films in order to venerate The Strangers, for which Drake was a producer.
Critics twho saw The Midnight Meat Train generally liked it, praising the acting from Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb, Vinnie Jones, and the rest of the cast. The film carries a 70 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes on the consensus that it delivers the thrills, scares, and gore its target audience seeks.
Bradley Cooper’s Career Took Off After Midnight Meat Train
Bradley Cooper jumped from Midnight Meat Train into the following year’s breakout hit The Hangover. That film launched Cooper from a solid supporting actor to a bankable leading man. The Hangover spawned a lucrative trilogy of comedies that provided a steady stream for Cooper as he expanded to dramatic horizons.
Cooper has since led an exciting and successful career as an actor, director, and producer. His performance in 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook earned the actor his first Oscar nomination, which he followed up with nominations for his work in American Hustle, American Sniper, and A Star is Born. As a producer, his films Joker, A Star is Born, American Sniper, and Nightmare Alley were nominated for Best Picture.
Bradley Cooper’s horror background with Midnight Meat Train paired with the gnarly sensibilities of director James Gunn to bring about Rocket Raccoon in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. The character may be Cooper’s most iconic, but it is easy to forget that such a high-profile actor lurks beneath the CGI surface of the lovable a-hole.
The evolution of Cooper’s career is a fascinating one, and The Midnight Meat Train is an important piece of the puzzle. It stands out among his list of comedies, dramas, and action films, and the film’s troubled release leaves it begging for rediscovery.
Now, nearly 20 years after its release, fans of Bradley Cooper can head on over to Tubi and ride The Midnight Meat Train all the way to the end of the bloody line.
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