Entertainment
UFOs Are Hiding In Plain Sight In Netflix's Jaw-Dropping Sci-Fi Thriller
By Robert Scucci
| Published
If you lived in rural California and suspected alien activity near your farm, what would you do about it? Would you contact the authorities or set up trail cams for your personal safety? Or would you go into hiding so you don’t have to deal with getting abducted, probed, and all of the other horrible things that allegedly happen after getting sucked up by a UFO’s weird laser beam thing? If you’re like the characters in 2022’s Nope, you might have the wise idea to try getting the perfect shot of the spacecraft so you could sell it to the highest bidder, sell the ranch, and become filthy rich off that sweet, sweet alien money.
At its core, Nope is a film about exploitation, and the lengths people go to make something out of themselves, consequences be damned. Looming just beneath the surface, though, is another story about resilience, ingenuity, and adapting to an increasingly bizarre situation, not just for clout, but for survival and saving face.
I’ve Been Through The Desert On A Horse And Got Maimed
When we’re first introduced to OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) in Nope, it’s under tragic circumstances. During a freak accident in which metal objects fall from the sky, OJ’s father (Keith David) is struck dead when a nickel goes through his eye and into his brain. Suddenly stuck managing the family farm, OJ finds himself in a tough spot. The family business involves training horses that can be used in Hollywood productions, but after a grisly on-set incident, OJ and his younger sister Em (Keke Palmer) are kicked off the movie lot.
To close the financial gap, OJ starts selling horses to Ricky “Jupe” Park (Steven Yeun), a former child star who now owns the theme park Jupiter’s Claim. Ricky does well for himself despite his traumatic past. As a child, Jupe starred in Gordy’s Home, a sitcom about a family with a pet chimp. The show was suddenly canceled after the chimp on set was pushed to its limit, resulting in the cast and crew getting mauled. In addition to running the theme park, a grown-up Jupe allows fans of the sitcom to spend the night in a room full of memorabilia from the show, for a nominal fee, of course.
While OJ struggles to get through each day running his late father’s farm, he starts noticing electrical disturbances, and his prized horse, Lucky, begins behaving strangely. OJ swears he sees some sort of unidentified object hiding behind the clouds, so he and Em purchase trail cameras and all the equipment they can get their hands on, inadvertently recruiting a tech salesman named Angel (Brandon Perea) to help them out with their project. The goal is simple: capture solid footage of the UFO, then reap the benefits.
What OJ doesn’t know, however, is that Jupe is also aware of the alien presence and has been using the horses he bought from him as bait. He’s already making a living exploiting his horrific past, and it seems to be a solid business model for him, so why not exploit what he can in the present as well? Luckily, OJ and Em have something Jupe doesn’t: the help of renowned cinematographer Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott). As the UFO slowly descends on the community of Agua Dulce, California, there’s no telling what its motivations are, but it’s reasonable to assume it has been watching everybody for a very long time and has some serious apprehensions about being discovered and documented.
Believable Characters In A Preposterous Situation
While the scenery, cinematography, and action sequences are top notch in Nope, what really kept me enthralled was the relationship between OJ and Em. Their interactions as brother and sister feel completely authentic, and if you didn’t know they were actors in a movie, you’d think they were actually related. I haven’t seen sibling chemistry this good since Donnie Darko, where Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal used the fact that they’re siblings in real life to effortlessly portray a believable brother and sister dynamic on-screen.
OJ is clearly the more responsible sibling, feeling the weight of obligation to do right by his father’s business. He has a legacy to think about, but you can tell he’s tired. So tired, in fact, that he has almost zero patience for Em’s more fast-and-loose approach to life. In her mind, she and her brother will one day sell the farm, collect a nice payday, and move on with their lives. OJ is tempted, but you can tell he isn’t quite ready to do that.
However, both come to the same conclusion that while they still own the farm that just so happens to have an alien presence, they should take a page from Jupe’s playbook and exploit the opportunity to get a perfect shot they can sell to the tabloids for an epic payday. The parts that made me laugh the most, even though they’re not overtly hilarious, involve Em getting ready to settle down for the day while OJ flatly announces that after all of the extracurriculars they just did, he still has to get back to work because he has mouths to feed. It’s total big brother energy.
Add in the ingenious absurdity of using a bunch of Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men as bait to lure the entity out of the sky, and you have a movie that really looks like nothing else.
Nope is sincere, exploitative, gorgeously shot, and packed with vibes thanks to its setting alone. It will also make you want to drive out into the middle of an empty field with a good camera in hope of finding alien life, because we all know they’re out there somewhere, but every single picture we’ve seen so far has been blurry and inconclusive.
Nope is coming to Netflix on May 18, 2026, so be sure to set a reminder if you’re ready to sit down with what may very well be Jordan Peele’s best film.
Entertainment
Kristen Stewart's Extremely R-Rated Action Comedy Is Pineapple Express Meets John Wick
By Robert Scucci
| Updated
Every single time I stream something with Jesse Eisenberg in it, I have to remind myself that I have free will, and that I can just watch all of his movies in some sort of sensible order. Zombieland (2009) is a modern classic horror comedy, The End of the Tour (2015) is a gut-wrenching yet hilarious biopic about David Foster Wallace that any serious reader should watch at some point in their life, and The Double (2013) doubles as an intense psychological thriller with a perfectly twisted sense of humor. I can keep listing titles, but you get the point. The man’s an actor’s actor through and through.
Had I known that Jesse Eisenberg starred in 2015’s American Ultra, an extremely violent action comedy about a comic book-drawing stoner who doesn’t know he’s a CIA sleeper agent until properly activated, resulting in a hilarious series of escalations that ultimately level an entire town with heavy artillery and a bunch of hapless shadow government goons, I would have watched it years ago.
The only thing I can do with my life now, outside of living in a constant state of regret for missing out on such a fun movie for over a decade, is spread the good word and recommend American Ultra to anybody who may have missed it.
A Sleeper Agent Living In A Sleepy Town
When we first meet Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) in American Ultra, he’s a total mess. He’s the kind of stoner who needs to stay constantly lit in order to function like a regular contributing member of society, but we soon learn that this isn’t entirely his fault. He works as a convenience store clerk and comes home to his long-term girlfriend, Phoebe (Kristen Stewart). Phoebe is beyond patient with him, especially because he suffers from horrible panic attacks whenever he tries to leave town, often ruining their planned vacations.
As it turns out, Mike has been programmed not to leave his small town of Liman, West Virginia because he’s a sleeper agent in his hibernation phase, and people are actively keeping tabs on him. He’s the last known surviving member of the “Wiseman” Ultra Program (inspired by MKUltra), run by CIA Agent Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton), who shows up at his work to activate him after learning that her rival, Adrian Yates (Topher Grace), plans to kill him using his own similarly trained “Toughguy” agents that he believes are superior.
Once Victoria rattles off the activation phrase, “Chariot Progressive, listen. Mandelbrot set is in motion. Echo Choir has been breached. We are fielding the ball,” Mike initially thinks it’s some obscure song lyric and goes back to work without a second thought. But when he’s later assaulted by two Toughguys outside, his very particular skill set (read: the ability to effortlessly kill scores of people) comes rushing back to him. The problem is that he’s still the same Mike he’s always been, only now he suddenly has no idea what he’s actually capable of.
After narrowly escaping two of Yates’ goons, Laugher (Walton Goggins) and Crane (Monique Ganderton), and regrouping with Phoebe, Mike slowly starts learning what’s really at stake. At the same time, he realizes he barely remembers anything about his life before settling down with Phoebe, who may know far more about his situation than she initially lets on.
Pineapple Express Meets John Wick
American Ultra takes the stoner humor from Pineapple Express, rolls it up nice and tight, and then lights up John Wick-style the second Mike is activated. Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Mike is so much fun to watch because he’s horrified by what he’s capable of, but also weirdly curious about how deep the conspiracy involving him, Lasseter, and Yates actually goes. Is he really the last of his kind? And can he take out the supposedly more sophisticated generation of sleeper agents designed to eliminate him?
At the same time, he’s just trying to keep his girlfriend safe, even though she’s surprisingly chill about the whole ordeal, which adds another layer of suspicion and tension to his already paranoid mental state. At the end of the day, though, American Ultra has a shockingly simple premise that lets you sit back and watch everybody start blasting when it matters most. It’s Jesse Eisenberg taking what he learned from Zombieland and applying it to a covert ops conspiracy where he’s an unwilling participant.
There’s no real moral dilemma here, or anything that requires deep thought. You just need to appreciate this one for what it is and enjoy the ride.
As of this writing, American Ultra is streaming for free on Tubi.
Entertainment
The Funniest Show On TV Will Change The Way You Think About Education
By TeeJay Small
| Published
If you spend a lot of time trolling Hulu for the best binge-worthy TV shows like I do, you’ve probably found your fair share of duds. Some shows don’t have the writing chops to really make you laugh, some lack a cast talented enough to have staying power, and some are just victims of early cancellation before they can hit their stride. Luckily, I won’t need to look for a new show for a while, because I’ve got five seasons of Abbott Elementary that I can watch over and over again until I die.
I’m not trying to oversell it when I say Abbott Elementary might just be the funniest show on TV. On paper, it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing I’d vibe with, but after taking a chance on the ABC sitcom, I’m completely hooked. I first became aware of the show last year when they collaborated with It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia to produce a pair of hilarious crossover specials. Having grown up loving Always Sunny, I tuned in just for the gang, and stayed for the off-the-walls antics of the teachers and students at Willard R. Abbott Elementary School.
Overqualified And Underappreciated
In case you haven’t seen it, Abbott Elementary is a series created by former Buzzfeed contributor Quinta Brunson. Brunson stars as a newly-minted elementary school teacher named Janine Teagues, working in the heart of a deeply underfunded Philadelphia school system. Through the lens of a mockumentary film crew, we meet an ensemble of wacky characters, including the self-centered principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James), the wise and jaded kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph), and the straight-laced and overqualified Gregory Eddie, played by Tyler James Williams of Everybody Hates Chris fame.
Each episode highlights the struggles that teachers face, from bussing strikes, to budget cuts, to the occasional ringworm outbreak. Brunson created the show as a love letter to some of her own teachers from the Philly school system, and worked extra hard behind the scenes to ensure that the series handles topical issues with care. The heart of Abbott Elementary is best exemplified by the middle school teacher Jacob Hill (Chris Perfetti), who is constantly trying to ensure that his students have access to clubs and resources that simply aren’t in the budget. Though he’s obnoxious, overbearing, and unspeakably corny, Jacob always goes above and beyond for his students.
Family-Friendly Humor With Bite
Personally, my favorite characters are Principal Coleman and Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter). The former is a character that feels like it was written using my exact likeness before race and gender swapping for the purpose of being legally distinct, while the latter feels like every one of my scheming, Italian aunts from back in Boston. Melissa is a die-hard Philly sports fanatic, an avid gambler, and a top-tier teacher when it comes to showing her kids how to hustle against the system. With endless obstacles in their path, the Abbott crew somehow manage to give their students the best education possible, and take the time to address systemic issues with a surprising level of care.
Though the characters on Abbott Elementary are extremely well realized, the thing that makes this show so special is its nonstop humor. I’m usually a fan of raunchy comedies and foul-mouthed performers (a la Always Sunny) so I was shocked at how many laughs this family-friendly workplace comedy could draw out of me. Pound for pound, I’d say I laugh out loud harder and more often watching Abbott Elementary than I do with any other movie, show, or web series. Every line out of Ava’s mouth is a work of art, and Mr. Eddie’s straight-man glances to the camera are like Jim from The Office on steroids.
If you haven’t had the chance to check this one out yet, be sure to catch Abbott Elementary on Hulu today. For those unsure about giving it a spin, I’d say start with episodes like “Attack Ad,” “Read-A-Thon,” or “Smoking.” Pretty much every episode of this show is a guaranteed banger, but those are some of the episodes that stand out as ruinously funny.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for May 17, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you always strike out.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Strike one!
The words are related to a popular game.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe a gaming venue.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is Bowling Alley.
NYT Strands word list for May 17
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Scoreboard
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Pins
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Lanes
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Bowling Alley
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Arcade
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Balls
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Lounge
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
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