Entertainment
All-Time Greatest Space Series Siloed And Ruined By Broken, Low-Quality Streaming
By Jennifer Asencio
| Published
In today’s modern streaming environment, companies are paywalling content that was once free on other streaming sites and syndication. The most recent victim of this tactic is the much-loved sci-fi space opera Babylon 5.
A show that was once free on Tubi, Amazon Prime, and other services is now locked behind the YouTube/Google Play paywall. The series can only be bought on YouTube and is not available for subscription streaming.
If this were not bad enough, long-known technical issues with the old program interfere with the integrity of its YouTube presentation. It was shot originally in the 4:3 aspect ratio when it was aired in the 1990s. The aspect ratio came from that earlier era of recording and broadcasting technology and its inherent limitations.
YouTube and Google have not maintained this as saliently as they could have. Many fans of the series have commented on the quality of the picture being inconsistent. Whether that was due to using the original 4:3 programming alongside remastered scenes or to using scenes from other recording services, fans have complained about distorted visuals and cropped framing.
There’s also the glaring issue of parts of the show being erased. The season 1, episode 20 installment, “Babylon Squared,” has missing scenes in the versions available on YouTube and Google Play. This known technical issue was resolved by streaming services HBO Max, iTunes, and Tubi, which aired it before Google’s acquisition of the series.
Practices like these are raising larger questions about the content that gets siloed by these streaming services. More content that was once widely available has either been hidden behind Internet paywalls or plans are in the works. The NFL infamously put its Christmas Day games, a staple in most family homes, on Netflix, a subscription service. After 2029, the Oscars will also be limited to YouTube subscribers.
As the number of streaming services increases almost daily, the reasons for the cord-cutting of prior decades are being replaced by the prohibitive cost of maintaining so many services. People moved to streaming because cable was limited to only what was airing at the time, and streaming was on demand.
Now, consumers have to have not just cable but also a streaming service to access content that is decades old or once on broadcast television. What once served as a primary source of news, entertainment, and culture is now hidden online, accessible only to those willing to follow the Balkanization. Now every movie is a rental, and to access media, one must have the right combination of expensive subscriptions. It’s like having to pay for each individual cable channel instead of getting a package.
Streamers have even been known to delete movies and shows from their own libraries, cutting off access to people who actually paid for them, as happened to the Adult Swim cartoon Final Space in 2022. Warner Bros, which owns HBO and Discovery, is infamous for doing this by writing off its less popular properties for tax purposes, regardless of who spent money to acquire the content. They couldn’t do that with physical media, but it is something all streamers can do and have even quietly done.
Most streamers also don’t carry many older movies. A recent perusal of Paramount Plus’s “all movies” menu showed classics like To Catch a Thief, but they were few and far between among more modern fare from the studio, like the Smile movies. Paramount has a long history of producing some of Hollywood’s classics, but they can’t be accessed on their streaming service.
These are all consequences of siloing away entertainment and limiting it to streaming apps and computer screens. It not only wreaks havoc on the integrity of the shows as it did for Babylon 5, but it also dictates which parts of culture people are allowed to access. In a previous world, anyone could see Babylon 5 in all its glory on syndication or get the series on DVD. Now, we all have to add yet another subscription to see it, and we’re not even getting all of what we paid for.
Entertainment
The LG 75-inch 85A QNED Mini-LED TV is under $900 — its best price ever
SAVE $703: As of Feb. 18, the LG 75-inch 85A QNED Mini-LED 4K TV is on sale for only $896.99 at Amazon. That’s around 44% in savings and matches its best price on record.
$896.99
at Amazon
$1,599.99
Save $703
While it’s not traditionally the best time to buy a TV, it is a pretty great time to buy one specific TV: the LG QNED85A.
As of Feb. 18, the LG 75-inch 85A QNED Mini-LED 4K TV is on sale at Amazon for only $896.99. While Amazon’s listing might make it look like a price drop of only $500 or so, it’s actually a savings of over $700 (about 44%). The actual list price is between $1,599.99 and $1,799.99 — as seen at Best Buy and LG’s own website — so Amazon cuts itself short. This price matches its lowest on record.
The Class 85A series from LG, one of our favorite TV brands, debuted at CES 2025. It’s a mid-range Mini-LED option that uses AI to enhance your picture and audio in real time. Its Alpha 8 AI Processor Gen2 can find the perfect HDR and brightness settings for whatever you’re watching, while giving the dialogue a boost over background noise and refining the sound to suit your preferences. The AI Magic Remote can also give you content recommendations, picture and audio customizations, and even a generative AI gallery of images to transform your TV into art.
The gaming specs are stacked as well. A 120Hz native refresh rate and VRR 144Hz refresh rate, paired with AMD FreeSync Premium and LG’s Game Optimizer, make for a smooth gaming experience. Meanwhile, GeForce NOW and Xbox Cloud Gaming allow for quick game streaming.
Mashable Deals
If a big screen with stunning picture quality that won’t put a huge dent in your wallet is what you’re after, the mid-range LG 75-inch 85A Mini-LED 4K TV is a great pick — especially when it’s at its best price ever.
Entertainment
Raunchy, 60s Sci-Fi Comedy Is A Wild Alien Invasion
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Whenever an older movie on streaming starts with a disclaimer stating, “The content you are about to view features depictions that are objectionable,” you know they’re trying to save face for something. 1962’s Invasion of the Star Creatures has this disclaimer, and it took me a minute to figure out why. It’s a movie about an invasion of very tall, sexy alien women who plan to take over planet Earth. Accompanying them are their male, plant-based counterparts who possess superhuman strength. Caught in the middle are two military privates who fall in love with the women while carrying themselves in slapstick fashion like Laurel and Hardy or the Marx Brothers.
It’s all pretty standard stuff, and my initial notes on this shlocky sci-fi adventure stated, “Anybody offended by this in 2026 needs therapy.” In my mind, that was a solid take. The alien women in Invasion of the Star Creatures are powerful and completely in control. Privates Philbrick (Robert Ball) and Penn (Frank Ray Perilli) are bumbling idiots who just so happen to be attracted to them. Their Sergeant (Trustin Howard) is a walking caricature who loves barking orders. It’s broad. It’s silly. It’s what you’d expect.
Then suddenly, out of nowhere, everybody’s smoking a peace pipe with a Native American tribe, and I began to understand why this film had a disclaimer at the beginning. I can’t say it’s grossly offensive by any stretch of the imagination, because Invasion of the Star Creatures is very much a product of its time. Its disclaimer even concludes with, “We present this material for its historical value. We strongly believe that awareness of yesterday’s prejudice and its lasting effects can be enhanced when that prejudice is seen through the lens of the entertainment it informed at the time.”
In other words, Invasion of the Star Creatures is objectionable to some in spots, but with the early 60s context in mind, it’s still a fun watch if you’re willing to look past your modern bias.
It’s Just Goofy Slapstick With An Alien Plot
Invasion of the Star Creatures tells a painfully simple story about Privates Philbrick and Penn, two military idiots so useless they’re relegated to trash duty and other humiliating tasks around the barracks. Despite their buffoonery, they’re summoned by their Sergeant to investigate a cavern that suddenly appears on the military’s radar.
They enter the cavern and are immediately accosted and kidnapped by giant vegetable creatures. These creatures lead Philbrick and Penn to their female alien overlords, Dr. Puna (Joanne Arnold) and Professor Tanga (Dolores Reed). Initially overpowered, Philbrick accidentally learns that kissing the aliens incapacitates them briefly after trying to make out with Dr. Puna.
Realizing they can’t handle an impending alien invasion alone despite knowing their weakness, the privates head back to base, explain everything to the Sergeant, and return to the cavern. Along the way, they have a run-in with friendly Native Americans who love to smoke their peace pipe, sing nonsense syllables, and dance the day away.
Now, I could be way off base here, but I’m fairly certain this is why Invasion of the Star Creatures opens with a disclaimer. It’s not misogynistic. It’s not even casually demeaning toward women, who in this case overpower their human counterparts with ease and speak with confident authority. If there were no disclaimer in front of this B movie from the 1960s, I wouldn’t even think twice about it because this is more or less what you sign up for when watching movies of this caliber from this era.
Streaming Invasion Of The Star Creatures
While the Native Americans may be depicted in objectionable ways, they’re also depicted as helpful and self-sufficient, and their presence drives the story forward. On the flip side, literally anybody else could have helped Philbrick, Penn, and Sergeant along on their trip to the cavern, so in that regard, it is a pretty wild creative choice, but one that ranks low on my personal offenso-meter.
Invasion of the Star Creatures is a solid B movie, and that’s all it ever needs to be. It’s the kind of slapstick that makes you want to say “yuk, yuk, yuk,” and slap your knee, and there’s really no need to overthink this one. It’s fun. It’s fine. Choices were made. You don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to.
If you want to see what all the fuss is about, though, Invasion of the Star Creatures is currently streaming for free on Tubi.
Entertainment
This Overlooked Anime Classic Does Podracing Better Than Star Wars
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
It’s kind of a weird time to be a Star Wars fan: the Sequel Trilogy was a bust, over half the shows are disappointing, and Disney has more canceled projects than Jawas have droid parts. This is doubly frustrating because the formula for these movies doesn’t seem all that hard to crack. Surely, after nearly half a century, somebody in charge can figure out what worked and what didn’t work for earlier movies, right?
While we’re still waiting for Disney to do something interesting with this galaxy far, far away, but it took a completely different company to create the perfect tribute to Star Wars. Redline (2009) is basically one big pod race, one filled with the coolest action and the freakiest aliens this side of Tatooine. Fortunately, you don’t need the Force to discover this overlooked anime masterpiece: all you have to do is grab your remote and head to Tubi, where you can stream this full-throttle film for free!
Shut Up And Drive
The premise of Redline is that a professional racer participates in a scheme to fix a race, all to get himself and a buddy out of trouble with the mafia. He comes in second place, but after some other drivers drop out, he qualifies for Redline, an upcoming race that will take place on a planet ruled by fascist robots. There, he will face a choice that could define the rest of his life: to keep fixing races or go for the prize, which would establish him as the greatest racer in the entire galaxy.
Unfortunately, Redline was a box office flop when it was first released, earning only about $8.5 million against a budget estimated to be as high as $30 million. Later, the movie achieved a major cult following on home video and streaming, and it made a particular impact on anime superfans who were looking for something new. Thanks to its minimal plot, thumping soundtrack, and high-octane animation, Redline quickly established itself as the perfect movie for anyone looking to just kick back and enjoy an unforgettable cinematic ride.
A Film Of Dazzling Beauty
When Redline raced into theaters, it impressed reviewers with its style and delightfully unhinged energy. On Rotten Tomatoes, it had a rating of 70 percent, with critics praising the movie for its relentless pace and hypnotically beautiful animation. Notably, the film had an audience rating of 90 percent, indicating that it impressed the collective anime fandom even more than it impressed the professional critics.
I recently showed Redline to my wife, and we agreed that the movie embraced a very unique storytelling philosophy: all world, no building. The film presents a very rich fictional universe populated with exotic aliens, mindblowing technology, and even a little bit of space magic. But you get almost no exposition or explanation regarding any of these elements, forcing you to figure everything out on the fly.
All World, No Building
This storytelling method may be annoying to certain viewers, especially those who were clamoring for a meatier plot. However, I would argue that this effectively makes Redline more immersive because, like the charismatic racer protagonist, everyone watching is just along for the ride. You can try to get a handle on this chaotic cosmos of characters, or you can do what I did: just tune out all the noise and focus on the buttery-smooth animation that brings this celebration of speed to life.
While Redline is great for anime fans and anyone who loves a good car chase, the film is certain to resonate even more with fans who loved the podracing sequence in The Phantom Menace. That first prequel was deeply flawed, but most Star Wars fans agree that the podrace was great because it simplified this galaxy far, far away down to its most basic elements: exotic characters doing something both cool and dangerous. That narrative spirit is alive and well with Redline, a movie whose chief appeal is seeing colorful aliens pushing their high-tech hotrods to the limit in order to emerge as the greatest racer in the galaxy.
Buddies, Brews, Bots, And Battles
In the end, reviewing Redline is almost an exercise in futility: this is more of an experience than a movie, one in which a kaleidoscope of colors and a hypnotic soundtrack combine with some of the craziest visuals ever put onscreen. It’s truly one of a kind and unlike any film before or since. As such, it’s a film you owe yourself to check out, especially if you’ve been hungry for a movie capable of completely blowing your mind.
If you’re ready to take the ride, you don’t even have to buy a ticket: Redline is currently streaming for free on Tubi. It’s a movie best played loud and experienced on the biggest television you can find. Just be careful: by the time the credits roll, you might be tempted to shop for a new muscle car and turn your daily commute into a madcap race for the finish line!
The LG 75-inch 85A QNED Mini-LED TV is under $900 — its best price ever
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