Entertainment
Adventures in Wigland
My mom shows up at my front door in the middle of the afternoon, unannounced.
“I’m ready for a wig,” she declares, walking right past me and pulling off her coat. I have asked her again and again to warn me before she shows up, but she never has, not once. Then again, I keep letting her in.
“A wig!” I reply, cautiously delighted, and a little confused. She’s been bald as an egg from chemo for months; I wonder what has shifted. But I’m thrilled with this clear directive — something we can actually do for her, for once — that I close my laptop and offer to make us lunch.
She calls out wig facts from my breakfast nook, as I take a bag of Trader Joe’s gnocchi from the freezer and dump it in a pan. “So, there’s fake hair and real hair,” she says. “Fake-hair wigs last six months on average. Real hair is more expensive, but it lasts for over a year.”
“How much are we talking about?”
“A few hundred versus a thousand, I think.” She looks at me and I look back, spatula in the air, trying to keep my face blank — to sidestep the subject of “lasting,” and months and years. Since her cancer diagnosis, she’s had a full-day surgery, two hospital stays, genetic sequencing, and six rounds of chemo. Each milestone has led to more bad news. The five-year survival rate for leiomyosarcoma is 14 percent, I know that by heart. Everything I read says she has nine to 15 months to live. (She will be gone in less than a year, but we don’t know that yet.) “Someone has to be in that 14 percent,” she tells me, whenever I suggest she start withdrawing her retirement early. So, we eat lunch and make plans to check out a wig store this evening and then see a movie.
Arriving at Wigland, we creep around for 10 minutes, waiting for the next free staffer. We walk shyly down the rows of disembodied display heads, exchanging amused glances but afraid to touch anything. The low ceilings and bad lighting, the dead-eyed stares of the wig mannequins — it all feels weighted with meaning, and I fight the urge to flee.
When it’s our turn to be helped, Brian, the proprietor, is careful with us, his approach sidelong. “How much do you know about wigs?” he asks with tender curiosity. “Absolutely nothing!” I answer, too eager. Brian doesn’t miss a beat. First, he tells us about synthetic wigs, which, he stresses, cannot be exposed to heat. You have to be careful reaching into the oven, or the bangs will frizzle. I laugh nervously, then worry it might be inappropriate in this setting. Wigs are so close to a joke, or a gag, but also, crucially, not at all.
Blessedly, my amusement only seems to encourage Brian. He grins and reminds us to be mindful of the dishwasher, too — the hot steam. I’m amazed, my dread giving way to admiration. The things people — wig people — go through, while people like me remain blithely clueless. “Oh, yes, and you want to steer clear of barbecues,” he adds, a twinkle in his eye. I want to say we’re experiencing camaraderie. Isn’t the world funny? Isn’t being human humiliating? Ha!
Finally, my mom sits to be fitted, and now Brian really shines. He puts on the wig cap with such evident care: “Does that feel okay? How is your scalp doing with the treatments? I know it can be extra sensitive.”
Mom lights up under his attentive gaze. “It looks like a fishnet stocking!” she says of the wig cap, embracing the absurdity. “It sure does.” He adjusts her. “One positive in all this is that you have a great head for wigs.” Mom replies: “Really?” as flattered and disbelieving as a child.
Brian wants a sense of what she looked like, before. Lately I have resisted looking back at old photos, where she looks so much younger and full of life, but now I jump at the opportunity to scroll back through my phone. There she is: medium-brown hair to her shoulders, reddish-blonde highlights framing her face. She used a curling iron almost every day, for as long as I could remember. I proudly hand Brian my phone — my beautiful mother! — and he shows no sadness or regret when he sees her; just squints at her hair and then rushes off, a man on a mission.
He returns with a stack of wigs, referring to them as “her” and “she,” which brings me joy each time. They seem alive in his hands when he slides them out of their boxes — an array of shoulder-length brunettes, graying auburns, and various gradients of salt-and-pepper. They look like my mother to me — like some long-lost body part. Like maybe her hair was here in Wigland the whole time?
The first he presents to us is a chestnut bob with bangs. She looks both not-quite-right and so much more right than she did a second ago. She is given back to me, briefly. I laugh gleefully, and take so many photos. The next one is too gray — grayer than she was. My mom laughs in horror, saying she looks like her mother. She does look exactly like Gram, who died just a few years ago at 95, an age that, barring a miracle, my mother will never see. She doesn’t want to look like her mom, but I want her to. I want her to be gray, to have softened, for time to have elapsed, for us to no longer be in this moment. I want her to age, to live. I want to have a mom who has made it to the phase of life where her hair is almost completely white.
Brian has another one, but he’s worried we won’t like it. “She’s a bit of a mess,” he tells us. “I’m a bit of a mess,” Mom laughs. She’s shoulder-length with a swoopy bang, and the shade is close to what mom’s once was: a tasteful blend of grey and dirty blonde. Pretty perfect, we agree. The one, probably.
At Brian’s urging, we go to the window to see her in natural light. I take a photo of both of us, smiling. We are grinning actually. I feel immense relief. We look so normal. Maybe she’s right, maybe her doctor and I have written her off prematurely, given up too soon. Why am I unable to live in the hopeful place my mother does? Where a 14 percent chance of being alive in five years feels significant, worth trying for? Where being wrong isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you?
We take more photos. Mom never resists taking pictures with me now, which I take as a bad sign. Like we both know there are only so many left. Brian sits her back in the chair and explains all the tweaks we can make to the wig. Thinning it here and there, shortening the back. No need for a hairdresser, Brian says, smiling. He can do it himself, if we trust him.
“We trust you!” I blurt, without checking with my mom. Of course we trust him, or I do. I know that Brian wants more for my mother than she does for herself. He will make it better, this wig we love already, that is $220. He can have her back to us in just a few days, he says. I want to be like him, to see people at their most vulnerable and know that I can improve their lives — not interpersonally, but with my own very specific skill.
Back the car, I do a three-point turn, directing us toward the movie theater. By the time I shift from reverse to drive, I’m jubilant. “I didn’t think we’d actually buy one today!” I say, looking over at Mom, now fitting her wool beanie back on her bald head. “Me neither!” she answers. It feels like we’re two teenagers who just got our ears pierced, or something equally wholesome and indulgent. I wonder what else we can do — how else we can chase this feeling, before it’s no longer available to us.
Meaghan O’Connell is freelance writer and editor and the author of the 2018 memoir And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready. You can find her work in New York Magazine, Romper, The New York Times, and her newsletter, What The Living Do.
P.S. The Dead Dad Club, and nine life lessons I learned after my cancer diagnosis.
(Top photo by Jerusha/Unsplash.)
Entertainment
The best Hulu deals and bundles in May 2026
The best Hulu deals and bundles in May 2026:
There’s a wide range of excellent shows and films to watch on Hulu, including The Testaments, season two of Paradise, and a surprise new episode of The Bear. It’s a library that’s full of options to keep you entertained throughout the summer and beyond.
If these shows have caught your eye and have you itching to sign up for Hulu, we’re here to help you get the best deal. Outside of the standard ad-supported and ad free plans, there are quite a few bundle deals available with Hulu that are worth exploring if you’re looking to save some cash. This includes the Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max package.
Disney has also dropped a new six-month offer on the Disney+ and Hulu bundle, though this is only accessible from their site at the moment. This drops its ad-supported plan to $11.99 per month when locking in for six months (before going back up to $12.99 per month). The ad-free plan is down to $17.99 per month (which will return to $19.99 per month after six months). Disney notes that this is an “ongoing offer for people who want to subscribe for a longer period to save on the average monthly cost.” It’s also available for new and eligible returning subscribers.
Below you can find details on Hulu’s best bundles at the moment — alongside information on both its ad-supported and ad free plans, if you just want the basics — offering you a way to save on the service right now.
Best Disney+ bundle deal
$12.99 per month with ads
Why we like it
For those interested in the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu Bundle, which sets you up with Disney+ alongside Hulu, it starts at $12.99 per month. If you’d prefer the Premium ad-free version of this plan, this jumps to $19.99 per month.
If you’re curious about Disney’s new six-month offer, this is accessible on Disney’s site. Again, it offers the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu bundle plan for $11.99 per month when locking in for six months, before returning to $12.99 per month. The Premium ad-free plan is $17.99 per month for six months, before returning to $19.99 per month.
Best HBO Max bundle deal
$19.99/month with ads, $32.99/month ad-free
Why we like it
This is one of the best Hulu bundles available at the moment. Starting at $19.99 per month, this bundle grants you access to Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max’s streaming services for a much lower price than what you’d pay for the three of them separately. It’s an incredible deal to take advantage of, especially if you’ve already got Disney+ and HBO Max subscriptions. There are two plans to choose from with this bundle, and they are:
Best student deal
Hulu with ads for $1.99/month
Why we like it
If you’re a student enrolled at a university, you can score a Hulu (with ads) plan for even lower than the above bundles. Hulu’s Student Deal gives eligible college students the ability to buy a Hulu (with ads) plan for just $1.99 per month. Hulu notes that the deal lasts “so long as student enrollment status remains verified,” then it goes back up to the standard monthly price.
Best ESPN bundle deal
Why we like it
Alongside the big Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max bundle, Hulu also has plans for sports fans that throw in ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited. According to ESPN, “ESPN Select includes ESPN+ content only. Fans who want ESPN+ exclusively may subscribe to the ESPN Select plan. ESPN Unlimited includes all of the ESPN networks and services, including ESPN+.”
The Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited Bundle, which has ads, is available for $35.99 per month. The Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited premium bundle without ads is available for $44.99 per month.
Mashable Deals
Hulu’s monthly plans
If you’re just looking to jump straight into Hulu’s library without any fancy bundles, there are a couple of subscription options to consider. The ad-supported tier comes in at $11.99 per month, but you’ll get your first month free, which is a great way to test the waters and see if it’s the right fit for you. If you want to go ad free, that’ll cost you $18.99 per month. Unfortunately, this plan does not offer a free trial like its ad-supported sibling.
If you really want to go big on a streaming investment, there’s the Hulu + Live TV plan. This costs a whopping $89.99 per month for its ad-supported plan, but comes with plenty to keep you busy. Hulu + Live TV (with ads) gets you access to 95+ channels, unlimited DVR, Disney+ (with ads), ESPN Select (with ads), and Hulu (with ads). If you want to go even bigger with the ad-free plan — which offers Hulu (no ads), Disney+ (no ads), and ESPN Select (with ads) alongside Live TV — it’ll cost you $99.99 per month. The ad-supported plan also offers a free trial, but for just three days instead.
Wondering what to watch once you get set up with a Hulu plan or bundle? We’re here to help with that as well. Have a look at our roundups of the 30 best comedies on Hulu, the 25 best sci-fi movies on Hulu, and the 26 best horror movies on Hulu to start building your watchlist. And if you’re in the mood to binge-watch a show, check out our breakdown of the 25 best shows on Hulu.
Entertainment
The Worst Director’s Cut Ever Made Is Now Streaming For Free
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
As a movie lover, there’s one phrase that always gets my blood pumping: “director’s cut.” We all know that studios often make changes that can absolutely ruin a movie, like when they added those awful voiceover narrations to Blade Runner. As soon as he could, Ridley Scott released a version without those voice-overs that is infinitely better.
While Scott might have gone a bit overboard in releasing so many different edits over the years, the point stands: a director’s cut is usually a way of improving a movie. Every now and then, though, a director comes along and does his best to ruin a classic.
One such man is Richard Kelly, best known as the director of Donnie Darko. The original film stalled out at the box office, but it’s now considered a cult hit due to its heady mixture of violence, time travel, and coming-of-age teen hijinks, complete with the creepiest bunny ever put on film.
The most compelling thing about the movie is that it refuses to explain most of its craziest events, forcing you to think about what the heck you just watched long after the credits roll. Unfortunately, Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut ruins everything cool and mysterious about the original by painfully explaining everything in excruciating detail.
Not All Director’s Cuts Are Created Equal
If you loved Donnie Darko in 2001, then the arrival of the Director’s Cut in 2004 probably seemed like a big deal. This new cut promised over 20 minutes of new footage, new special effects, and improved sound quality. Sounds great, right?
Unfortunately, the new footage mostly comes from deleted scenes awkwardly shoehorned back into the movie, without any concern for pacing or characterization. The result is an overly lengthy film; while the original Donnie Darko was a comparatively svelte 113 minutes, the Director’s Cut’s 134 minutes makes it feel like a bloated, plodding mess.
There are some other unnecessary changes here, including tweaks to the soundtrack. For another film, such changes might not be a big deal. However, Donnie Darko had an absolutely perfect soundtrack, one which used a series of quirky bangers to set the scene for the surreal events of the film.
The original needle drops made everything feel hazy and dreamlike, so any changes to them (even minor changes, like replacing “The Killing Moon” with “Never Tear Us Apart”) feel like cinematic blasphemy that is as offensive as it is completely unnecessary.
A Frank Examination
The main reason the Donnie Darko director’s cut sucks, though, is that director Richard Kelly forgot the quintessential rule of sci-fi storytelling: less is more. The original movie presented plenty of time-tripping mysteries, including how (spoilers, sweetie!) the title character traveled into his own past, ensuring that he’d die when a jet engine inexplicably fell into his bedroom.
Donnie laughs right before he dies, secure in the knowledge that he is fixing a doomed timeline and saving someone he loves. As the credits roll, first-time viewers are always struck by the same question: “What the heck just happened?”
Unfortunately, the Director’s Cut answers that question in the most literal and boring way. You see, in the original cut, Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) takes an interest in time travel and receives a book, The Philosophy of Time Travel, written by a now-retired science teacher. But we don’t get much actual wisdom from the book and must figure out the timey-wimey narrative on our own.
In the Director’s Cut, we get pages from this book literally superimposed on the screen. Thanks to all this dreadfully boring exposition, we finally know what happened in the movie, and it’s pretty wild!
Ruining The Greatest Trip In Cinema
Apparently, the moment the jet engine landed in Donnie’s bedroom, it created a Tangent Universe. The young man is a Living Receiver who gains bizarre superpowers, including telekinesis and premonition, and has a seemingly impossible job: to return the jet engine to the Primary Universe, the only way to prevent the destruction of the entire universe.
By the end of the film, a traumatized Donnie creates a time portal and rips a jet engine off the plane that his mother and younger sister are in. He sends that engine and himself into the past, killing himself and closing the tangent universe while he laughs, knowing his sacrifice will save those he loved.
Is it a neat explanation? Maybe. But the one that you came up with in your head was probably way, way cooler. Unfortunately, this is the nature of science fiction: being handed the truth (like what the Smoke Monster is in Lost and what the Upside Down is in Stranger Things) is never as satisfying as trying to figure everything out on your own.
Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut hands you every boring explanation on a plate, sapping the mystery from a movie it already ruined with new scenes and a botched soundtrack. If you want to watch the worst director’s cut ever made, though, it’s now streaming for free on Tubi.
Trust me, though: after seeing it, you’ll want to escape your new Tangent Universe and return to the timeline where you never watched this cinematic abomination!
Entertainment
The Unfairly Hated Sci-Fi Flop That's Suddenly Dominating On Streaming
Edit a lot of idiotic and stolen together into two hours of film, and you end up with a big, silly summer blockbuster in which legless men can be heroes, and the elderly can be useful.
By Joshua Tyler
| Updated
In theory, director Peter Berg’s Battleship is supposed to be based on the popular guessing game of the same name. In reality, there’s almost no connection between Battleship the movie and its Milton Bradley namesake at all, outside of a single thrilling ten-minute sequence involving buoys, missiles, and a big board. The rest of the movie is a puzzle made up of pieces cribbed from some of history’s most infamously ridiculous summer blockbusters.
Sometimes you want big, silly, and stupid on a random Friday night when you’re not going out.
Battleship is an alien invasion movie, I guess, but it’s also one of many Hollywood movies that only really uses aliens because killing them won’t offend anyone. Like any alien species imagined under such creatively corrupted circumstances, these extraterrestrials aren’t very good at their job.
They land in the middle of a naval exercise, which might not be tactically ridiculous if their ships had some sort of technological superiority that would enable them to crush their human opponents without a thought, but they don’t. Their ships can’t even fly.
Edit a lot of idiotic and stolen together into two hours of film, and you end up with a big, silly summer blockbuster in which legless men can be heroes, and the elderly can be useful.
Instead, they sort of flop about in the water and shoot at the Navy with weapons that, while weirder, aren’t all that much more effective than those used on the deck of a World War II-era battleship. Actually, they’re exactly that effective, as the movie later goes on to demonstrate.
Eventually, we find out they’ve arrived as some sort of pre-invasion force, we learn this via an out-of-place scene stolen from every alien invasion movie you’ve ever seen in which an ET mind-melds with one of the crew. So they’re here to wipe out humanity and take the planet for themselves, thus it makes sense when they set about blowing up our ships and attacking the Hawaii mainland. What doesn’t make sense is the alien attackers’ hesitance to shoot at anything that isn’t already shooting at them (later abandoned) or their refusal to kill little kids playing baseball (though they’re happy to murder the ones who use our highway system).
Taylor Kitsch is heroic, Rihanna steals scenes running around shooting guns, and Brooklyn Decker’s moves are so hypnotic it doesn’t matter what sort of dreck comes out of her mouth as dialogue.
So the aliens are ineffectual, ill-equipped, and their tactics don’t make a lot of sense. This leaves the film’s human component to carry the day and, well, they sort of do.
Taylor Kitsch is heroic, Rihanna steals scenes running around shooting guns, and Brooklyn Decker’s moves are so hypnotic it doesn’t matter what sort of dreck comes out of her mouth as dialogue. You won’t even mind that half the script seems like it was written as a PSA for the families of wounded soldiers.
Does it matter if you’re being manipulated if you know you’re being manipulated all along? I say it doesn’t.
Every moment of Battleship is either idiotic or stolen. Edit a lot of idiotic and stolen together into two hours of film, and you end up with a big, silly summer blockbuster in which legless men can be heroes, and the elderly can be useful.
Sometimes you want big, silly, and stupid on a random Friday night when you’re not going out. It’s unlikely anyone will make anything sillier or stupider than Battleship any time soon. Go ahead and watch it; just don’t tell anyone.
Battleship is now widely available on most streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV+, and Google Play.
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