Entertainment
Babylon 5 Creator Made A Ninja Action Cult Classic, Stream On Max After Top 10 Success
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
J. Michael Straczynski is an accomplished comic writer and the creator of Babylon 5, but he’s also contributed to dozens of other films and movies, ranging from Underworld: Awakening to episodes of Murder She Wrote. One of his most overlooked projects is now a streaming hit on Max, hitting the top 10 and staying there for over a week so far, which is especially impressive since it was a disappointment at the box office. Ninja Assassin is one of the most generic titles of all time, and the film itself is only slightly more interesting, but the violent action scenes make up for the predictable plot.
Assassinating Ninjas
South Korean superstar Rain plays Raizo, the titular Ninja Assassin, who is both a ninja and an assassin, but also an assassin of ninjas, making the title accurate no matter how you choose to read it. Trained by the evil warlord Lord Ozunu to be a killer for hire, Raizo refuses to kill a female ninja (kunoichi) and instead lashes out against his clan, devoting his life to stopping their clandestine wave of terror. He’s eventually joined in his one-man crusade by Europol special agent Mika, played by Naomie Harris, who has made a career out of being one of the best parts of B-movies.
Honestly, the plot doesn’t really matter because there’s only one reason anyone is watching Ninja Assassin, and that is the fight scenes. They lack the raw feeling of later martial arts movies like The Raid: Redemption, but they’re bloody, especially one moment involving a laundromat. Raizo may be a great fighter, but he spends a lot of the film getting beat up as well, which helps make his moments of triumph cooler than they would be if he was like, oh, let’s say, Dwayne Johnson, and never lost a single fight on screen.
A Pair of Martial Arts Icons
Rain carries Ninja Assassin as the heroic Raizo, and it’s clear why he was one of the biggest names in South Korean entertainment for a generation. The film is his first English leading role, though he made his English acting debut a year earlier in The Wachowskis Speed Racer, which is fitting, as the siblings then signed on as producers for the ninja fight fest. Rain had experience in a multitude of different martial arts before accepting the role, and while he didn’t do all of his own stunts, he did almost every fight scene himself.
While Rain may be a famous entertainer, Lord Ozunu should also be recognizable to fans of ninja action B-movies, or even Z-movies, because the villain is played by Sho Kosugi, the star of Cannon films Ninja trilogy, including the awesomely bad Ninja III: The Domination. Ninja Assassin was the last film the 80s icon starred in, choosing to focus instead on his multiple martial arts schools.
Ninja Assassin seems like an unlikely J. Michael Straczynski project, and while it lacks the depth of Babylon 5, keep in mind the prolific creator also wrote the infamous Spider-Man comic arc, “Sins Past,” which is considered one of the worst storylines in Peter Parker’s history. Not every swing at the plate is going to be a homerun, but at least with this ninja action B-movie, he helped provide the re-writes that have ensured it will be a cult classic for years to come.
Ninja Assassin is currently streaming on Max.
Entertainment
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for May 3, 2026
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will require some knowledge of popular U.S. sports and pop culture.
As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, 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 the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections: Sports Edition?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports 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 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 before 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.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: In Good Shape
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Green: Current NFL Head Coaches
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Blue: Famous Sports “Curses”
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Purple: Starts of Big Ten Names
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: Sports Edition #586 is…
What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?
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In Good Shape: AGIL, ATHLETIC, FIT, STRONG
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Current NFL Head Coaches: COEN, GLENN, REID, RYANS
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Famous Sports “Curses”: BAMBINO, BILLY GOAT, MADDEN, SI COVER
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Starts of Big Ten Names: BOIL, BUCK, CORN, HAWK
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports 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? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
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.
Entertainment
The DJI Mini 5 Pro drone is $500 off right now at Amazon — save on this content creator favorite
SAVE $500: The DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo is on sale for $1,099 at Amazon. That’s $500 off the list price of $1,599.
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What’s going to happen to the drone market in 2026? Due to legislative pressure on DJI imports in the U.S., there is so much uncertainty at the moment. We expected stock issues by now, but we’re actually seeing strong discounts on some of the best drones in the DJI range.
The DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo is on sale for $1,099 at Amazon. That’s $500 off and close to the record-low price.
The DJI Mini 5 Pro offers a huge 1-inch CMOS sensor, so whether you’re shooting 50MP stills or 4K/120fps slow-motion, the dynamic range more than delivers. The DJI Mini 5 Pro also makes use of forward-facing LiDAR that powers the new Nightscape Omnidirectional Sensing, meaning it can dodge branches, power lines, and buildings even when you don’t have eyes on your drone.
This popular drone offers 42GB of internal storage, meaning you can actually capture a full session of 4K footage without needing an external card as backup. That can have a massive impact for content creators.
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Save $500 on the DJI Mini 5 Pro this weekend.
Entertainment
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