By Brian Myers
| Published 1 hour ago

The 1988 film Heathers not only helped launch the careers of three of its stars but also captured the cynicism and black humor that grew to become two of the defining characteristics of Generation X. The film’s dark subject matter is remarkably lightened with Daniel Waters’ script and director Michael Lehmann’s touches, who both worked to produce a movie that was the polar opposite of the more optimistic teen films of the John Landis/John Hughes era.

Mean Girls Before Mean Girls

Heathers follows high school student Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) who inadvertently falls into the popular girl clique at Westerburg High School. The three girls she runs with are snarky, cruel, and from wealthy families, and seem to revel in making life harder for anyone they believe is beneath their station in life. Heather Chandler (Kim Walker), Heather McNamara (Lisanne Falk), and Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty) are collectively known as “The Heathers,” and serve as a group that Veronica strives to separate from.

Enter a new guy J.D. (Christian Slater), who becomes the object of Veronica’s affection. His zany behavior includes firing a gun (loaded with blanks) at bully football players, and a fascination with explosives. He and Veronica quickly bond and concoct a plan for revenge on Heather Chandler after the snobby girl has a falling out with Veronica at a party.

In true black comedy fashion, Heathers has the worst-case scenario come to life multiple times throughout its 103-minute run. J.D. and Veronica end up killing Heather Chandler, setting off a course of events that lead to insane murder plots that culminate into an explosive ending.

Heathers follows the darkest of plotlines but successfully pulls off becoming a comedy with its quirky one-liners and outrageous plot twists. The film itself is the penultimate definition of irony captured on celluloid, as each action taken by J.D. and Veronica have the most unintended consequences imaginable. Though entirely unbelievable, the writing and the characters are able to make the environment and the vibe of the film familiar and leave you wanting a bit more.

Ryder and Slater Knew The Assignment

Heathers gives a great look at Winona Ryder’s jump from little Lydia Deetz (Beetlejuice) into teen comedy and drama roles that would be her mainstay in the years before her co-starring role on Stranger Things. The movie certainly made her a commodity in Hollywood and elevated her to elite status among Gen X audiences.

The same could be said for Christian Slater, who’s J.D. made it possible for the actor to be cast in offbeat comedy films Kuffs and Pump Up the Volume. He and Ryder play off one another without missing a beat and are truly one of the film’s components that shine the brightest.

Heathers proved to be well ahead of its time, but the cult status it quickly earned made filmmakers pay attention to a new subset within teen audiences who wanted so much more out of films than love stories and happy endings. Its legacy is far reaching, as Slackers, Reality Bites, and Jawbreaker would likely not have been made if not for the example set by this underappreciated 1988 film. Heathers gets 4.0/5.0-stars for its acting, hilarious screenwriting, and the overall vibe that Lehmann was able to capture with the project. 

As of this writing, you can stream Heathers for free through Tubi, YouTube, Pluto TV, and Amazon Prime Video.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you’re an old soul.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Good vibes

• Green: Old sayings

• Blue: Bad vibes

• Purple: One letter

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Here are today’s Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Positive feelings

• Green: Retro expressions of approval

• Blue: Bad things to give someone

• Purple: What things pronounced “T” might refer to

Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today’s Connections #1118 is…

What is the answer to Connections today

• Positive feelings: BLISS, FELICITY, HAPPINESS, WARM FUZZIES

• Retro expressions of approval: COOL BEANS, FAR OUT, GROOVY, RIGHT ON

• Bad things to give someone: COLD SHOULDER, DIRTY LOOK, HARD TIME, RUNAROUND

• What things pronounced “T” might refer to: GOLF ACCESSORY, GOSSIP, HOT DRINK, SHIRT

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.

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 Connections.

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 1 hour ago

Before the rise of dedicated networks for cartoons, the Saturday morning and after-school animation blocks were the day’s highlight for most kids. We got to enjoy such classics as Denver the Last Dinosaur, Cowboys of Moo Mesa, Dinosaucers, Bravestar, and not one but two Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons. As fun as those shows were, story and character development weren’t their selling point, which is what Exosquad was created to change about American animation.

Airing from 1993 through 1994, for 52 episodes, Exosquad was the response of Jeff Segal, the head writer from Challenge of the Go-Bots, to match the quality output of Japanese anime. Typically, American cartoons were structured more like sitcoms than dramas, and the status quo would always be reset by the end of the 22-minute episode. Taking heavy inspiration from Mobile Suit Gundam, the original storyboard designs for the series even refer to it as “American Anime.”

In The Grim Darkness Of The Far Future

Exosquad is set in the future after humanity has colonized and terraformed Venus and Mars, where the Neosapiens, a bio-engineered slave race used by humanity for menial labor, have launched an uprising. Taking control of the planets, the Exosuit pilots that form Able Squad and their allies form the core of humanity’s fight against the Neosapiens.

Unusual for an American cartoon of the time, Exosquad treats the war completely seriously, with characters dying and multiple episodes of fighting followed by more episodes of clean-up and what to do as an occupying force.

While the long-form storytelling was something unique and groundbreaking, what wasn’t new and different was that each member of Able Squad had a different exoframe that they would pilot. From the winged blue frame used by squad leader J.T. Marsh, to the green reconnaissance frame of Alec DeLeon, and the extra-large two-pilot vehicle design of Diana and Thrax’s frame, it’s clear that while Exosqaud broke storytelling ground, it was still designed to sell toys.

When Afternoon Cartoons Go Dark

The colorful designs of the exoframes covered the dark nature of the story, with Episode 22, “Fire Ship,” remaining a standout that has stuck with me for decades. After being betrayed, Able Squad is captured and held on board a captured ship rigged with explosives as a booby trap for the Terran leadership. I was 10, and here was an episode with the heroes contemplating mortality and debating a plan to explode the ship prematurely so that no one else would die.

In 1993, this was unlike anything else on the air, and while yes, the heroes survived this time, that wasn’t always the case. Characters would routinely be injured and unseen for episodes at a time as they recovered, nameless pilots would die in almost every episode, and there was a very palpable sense of dread as the war ramped up and it was clear that not everyone would be making it home alive.

Tragically Ahead Of Its Time

No matter how dark the story became, the animation remained spectacular throughout, but it was the same studio, AKOM, in South Korea, that handled X-Men ’92, Batman: The Animated Series, and Gargoyles, so of course, it’s going to look good. For an American 90s cartoon that is, compared to its contemporary, Gundam Wing, Exosquad doesn’t hold up.

Exosquad came out during an interesting time for American animation, as the industry was quickly evolving and changing, going from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the start of the decade, to Spongebob Squarepants by the time it came to a close. The saga of Able Squad and the Neosapien War still stands out as a series that was unique and ahead of its time. Thankfully, if you want to experience the war yourself, is available for rent or purchase through Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.