By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 51 seconds ago

Ever watch the fandom collectively turn on a beloved franchise all at once? For Star Wars fans, it happened when The Last Jedi derailed decades of lore in favor of doing something completely different. For Star Trek fans, it happened when Starfleet Academy stopped exploring strange new worlds and started exploring Zoomer slang and CW-style teen drama. Meanwhile, for Halloween fans, it happened when Halloween Ends mostly replaced Michael Myers with a much more modern villain: a troubled young man who decides to solve all his problems, one murder at a time. At 40 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s safe to say that Halloween Ends is one of the most reviled films in the entire franchise.

Here’s the thing, though: in the parlance of The Dark Knight, Halloween Ends wasn’t the film that franchise fans deserved, but it was the one they needed. After Myers became a figure of borderline parody in Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends did something we haven’t seen since the third film in the series: it took the focus off the most famous masked killer in horror history. The result (assuming you can ignore the goofy climax) is one of the most provocative horror films of the last decade, and you can check it out for yourself on Netflix. 

Mikey Likes It

Halloween Ends begins with a babysitter (played by Rohan Campbell) accidentally killing the child he is watching in a freak accident. He becomes an outcast and pariah in Haddonfield, where even bored high school bullies harass him. After an unexpected run-in with a decidedly decrepit-looking Michael Myers, this bullied babysitter finally becomes the monster the whole town thinks he is. Things get messier when he falls in love with the granddaughter (played by Andi Matichak) of Laurie Strode (played by OG scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis), Myers’ oldest surviving victim. As the bodies pile up, the film barrels towards an explosive finale in which different generations of god and evil must fight for whatever is left of this troubled town’s soul.

While critics largely hated it, Halloween Ends deserves credit for taking big creative swings. David Gordon Green’s first Halloween movie was a solid reboot of the franchise, situating itself as a direct sequel to the John Carpenter slasher that started it all. That movie was good but not great, and much of what made it special was bogged down by weighty and sometimes awkward world-building. Halloween Kills, meanwhile, felt like a gonzo parody of the whole franchise, pairing over-the-top violence with cheesy dialogue and relentless nostalgia slop. Comparatively, Halloween Ends feels like a unique and fully-formed commentary on both the franchise and America’s epidemic of violence. 

A Stab From The Past

Admittedly, some of the criticisms of Halloween Ends are fair. The tone is inconsistent, waffling between slow-burning psychological thrills and boiling slasher violence. The finale (a clearly shot-for-the-trailer, hilariously geriatric showdown between Laurie and Michael Myers )is unambiguously the worst part of the film. The characters are written as modern American archetypes, which sometimes interferes with the otherwise grounded storytelling. Finally, the film de-centers Myers in favor of a young, new killer, which will be off-putting to anyone who tuned in to see their favorite masked madman engaging in a bit of the old ultraviolence.

However, that last criticism is most definitely a feature of Halloween Ends rather than a bug. The brutal truth is that, narratively speaking, Michael Myers is played out and has almost nothing left to offer to this franchise. Director David Gordon Green wisely ignored the tangled continuity of Myers’ lore, returning him to his default state as the embodiment of pure evil. But there’s only so much you can do with “evil man is evil,” which is why Halloween Kills gave him nothing to do but hack up everyone he ran into. Halloween Ends, however, posits that Myers’ evil is infectious, effectively spreading throughout the entire town like a cancer.   

Little Boy Blues

It certainly spread into our protagonist, a young man whose life is forever changed when he accidentally kills a boy. He shares something important in common with Myers: putting on a mask is how he leaves his humanity behind, fully embracing his identity as a monster. However, he is much more sympathetic than Myers because he fights his destiny, trying to rebuild his life after it is shattered into a thousand pieces. Thanks to Rohan Campbell’s compelling performance, audiences are forced to ask how culpable he is for his brutal actions and how much blame can be placed on Michael Myers, a legend who is simultaneously Haddonfield’s most immovable object and its most unstoppable force.

It helps that Campbell has very natural chemistry with Andi Matichak. Her character has endured so much tragedy in such a short time that she is in a perfect position to fall in love with the town’s resident bad boy. Together, they form a decidedly postmodern pair of star-crossed lovers: she just wants to escape from it all, while her serial killer boyfriend wants to tear everything down. Their relationship is as passionate as it is dysfunctional, and their doomed romance is every bit as compelling as the film’s satisfyingly gory kills. 

Evil Smiles Tonight

Is Halloween Ends the best film in the franchise? Of course not. That honor goes to the John Carpenter original, a bloody slice of slasher perfection. But Ends is better than most of the original sequels (especially Halloween III and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers), and it’s infinitely better than both of Rob Zombie’s remakes put together. If you can get over the relative lack of Michael Myers, it’s even better than Green’s first Halloween film because it offers us a genuinely fresh story set in this venerable cinematic universe. Throw in great kills, crunchy actor chemistry, and a pitch-perfect performance from original Final Girl Jamie Lee Curtis, and you’ve got something truly special.

Care to decide for yourself if this hated film is secretly brilliant? Want to wash away the fetid odor of several stinkers in the franchise, or maybe just get the phrase “EVIL DIES TONIGHT” out of your head? All you have to do is stream Halloween Ends on Netflix to experience this melancholic meta-slasher for yourself. By the time the credits roll, you’ll have a new respect for one of horror’s most notorious modern films. But you’ll likely join the legion of Halloween fans who are all united by a single, simple hope: that Myers stays dead a little bit longer before Hollywood tries to bring this slasher series back to life again. 

The Moon is still pretty full in the sky, so there’s lots of opportunity to catch a glimpse of some special features on its surface.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Sunday, May 3, the Moon phase is Waning Gibbous. Tonight, 98% of the moon will be be lit up, according to NASA’s Daily Moon Guide.

Without any visual aids, tonight you should be able to see the Mare Serenitatus and Vaporum, and the Oceanus Procellarum. With binoculars, you’ll see the Posidonus Crater, Endymion Crater, and the Mare Humorum. And, finally, with a telescope you’ll see all this plus the Apollo 14 and 17 landing spots, as well as the Descartes Highlands.

When is the next Full Moon?

There are two Full Moons in May, with the next due to take place on May 31.

What are Moon phases?

According to NASA, the Moon takes roughly 29.5 days to circle Earth once, going through eight distinct phases in the process. Even though we always see the same side of the Moon, the amount of sunlight hitting it changes as it moves in its orbit. The shifting light creates the changing shapes we know as full, half, and crescent Moons. Altogether, there are eight main lunar phases.

New Moon – The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter – Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon – The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous – The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) – Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 32 seconds ago

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans made not only Survivor history but also some really great dramatic TV with its nefarious MrBeast appearance, which aired on April 29, 2026. Even the recap was an awesome mini-movie of the drama and conflict from the previous episode, in which Christian Hubicki was voted out.

Rick Devens, under fire after his and Christian’s fake idol antics, made an alliance with Emily Flippen, who is Kaos Kass 2.0 (referring to Kass McQuillen of Survivor: Cagayun and Survivor: Cambodia). What kind of craziness will ensue from a pairing like that? He also came clean to the tribe about the fake idol he used to bluff votes away from him and toward Christy and Coach at the pairs Tribal. This impressed Joe Hunter, who admitted out loud that was a good move.

Return Of The Survivor Auction

Then it’s time for an event, but it’s not a competition. It’s auction time! The show put a new twist on this classic Survivor challenge by making its theme Comfort or Chaos. That meant that some of the “winning” bids would lead to chaotic challenges that harken back to the days of eating gross foods like bugs and worms. Aubry Bracco, whose tagline this season has been “I’m a psycho!”, asked Jeff how many things were going up to auction, causing Jeff to quip, “Since when am I the giver of information?”

The first few items were comfort foods like French fries and milkshakes, but finally, Jeff put two items up, with the caveat that there was a catch to it. Comfort or chaos? Psycho Aubry lived up to her name by winning the bid. She practically enjoyed the grub she had to eat. It won her and Rizo Velovic chocolate chip cookies and milk to kill the taste of those yucky, meaty worms. Jonathan also had to eat a sea slug, and the shocked and disgusted look on his face upon the first bite was priceless, but he did it and won Ozzy fried chicken and mashed potatoes. He made up for it with a PBJ while poor Cirie Fields couldn’t hold her stomach.

Finally, at the end of the auction, came the momentous MrBeast appearance. He actually acted sort of like a person and less like Pinocchio before the Blue Fairy got hold of him; unleashing the fateful Beware advantage without telling anyone what it was. Suddenly, there was no more auction; it became an immunity challenge.

The Immunity Challenge On Not Crossbows

There were crossbows… wait, they were not crossbows, they were those curved rockers with the ball on top. Balance the ball on the rocker, and you win. The banter referred to “Survivor’s favorite news anchor, Rick Devens” as he tried to keep his balance in the challenge (Rizo: “Take that, Savannah Louie.” Well, she’s an ex-newscaster, so it’s okay, she’s still a Survivor favorite.). Jonathan Young did a ballerina dance when he fell off. Powerhouse Tiffany Ervin won.

Tiffany has been a sleeper with not many confessionals, but I think that is more because her domination has been in her athleticism and interactions with others, rather than in her private thoughts. People have complained Tiffany hasn’t gotten a lot of edits, and she was nearly invisible early game, but only because she has been flying under the radar until the Kamila vote, quietly attacking challenges with gusto and forging relationships that have kept the target off of her, even while her allies have been made Public Enemy Number One.

Chaos At Camp

Right now, though, Ozzy Lusth seemed like Public Enemy Number One. Jonathan tried to leverage him out with negotiations around camp, but told Devens, who told Emily. We all know how that can go already, but multiply it by the impish pair being a secret alliance. As they said, “We should not be allowed to play this game… Certainly not together!”

Stephenie got pushy in her part in it, and then transferred the attention to Cirie, since Ozzy has an idol. While this worked in Devens’ favor after his antics with the fake immunity idol, it was still chaotic as no plan survived the field of battle. And, oh yeah, did we forget that Aubry, the Psycho, is also aligned with Crazy Devens and Kaos Emily? Is this the Insanity Alliance?

Tribal Council Explodes In Accusations

Discussion during Tribal Council was explosive. Doing his best Emily imitation, Devens revealed that Steph had a steal-a-vote.

Truth bombs blew up in Tribal as Jonathan and Steph were called out for targeting Ozzy. Rizo showed off how smart and analytical he is, both reasons he got so far in both 49 and 50, by demanding of Steph that she own her actions when she denied having dropped people’s names, because it’s Survivor, and if you aren’t dropping a name to vote out, you’re not playing the game. This all took place with almost 30 minutes left to the episode, heralding the events that would follow and how complicated the game was about to become.

MrBeast Reveals His Beware Advantage

MrBeast returned and explained his Beware advantage: a coin flip, where heads would provide an immunity idol and double the jackpot while tails would send the “advantage holder” home. Crazy Devens took a big swing and took the challenge.

Once again, Pinocchio acted like a real boy as MrBeast was even more excited, having been a long-time fan. He came up with this challenge, and it made for some momentous television, especially since Devens knows how to make great TV from his off-Survivor career as a news anchor (“Take that, Savannah Louie.”).

Rick Devens Flips A Coin And Wins Big

Even the jury (Benjamin “Coach” Wade, Chrissy Hofbeck, Dee Valaderes, and Christian Hubicki) was eating popcorn like Michael Jackson watching Thriller, and to top it off, the coin took a suspenseful roll before it landed: heads. Devens wins. The entire competition has now doubled. As Rizo would say, “Cinema.”

To top it off, a Survivor fan shared an old tweet from Devens:

Well, Jack, MrBeast is about to change your life. Congratulations on a lifelong dream fulfilled.

The End Of Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick’s Survivor Run

With the stakes of the game now doubled for everyone and Devens in possession of a real immunity idol, Tribal Council immediately turned live as everyone scrambled to decide who to vote for. Stephenie’s name started blowing up as no one believed Jonathan had campaigned for Ozzy (despite him talking to all of them), so she played her steal-a-vote on Devens. Rizo even admitted that he had nothing to say when writing his vote, which, coming from this constant talker, only proves how shocking the coin flip was for the tribe.

The votes fell against Stephenie, with Aubry as the only other person to receive any, which was somewhat out of left field given the episode’s events and the targets of debate. In fact, the only votes that weren’t for Steph were from her own steal-a-vote.

MrBeast Delivered Big For Survivor

There was a lot of skepticism about the MrBeast episode. He is a personality that most people either love or hate, and I admit I’m in the latter camp. So when I say that this episode was not only compelling television thanks to his twist, that is a huge concession on my part.

As a long-time Survivor fan who hasn’t decided yet who my favorite player is in this gripping season, to have the stakes raised for some of the greatest returning personalities to be put together for the show since Heroes versus Villains only elevates this season for me. Sure, the advantages have been excessive and weird, and I am still never going to forgive Jimmy Fallon for his role in Christian’s elimination, but for drama and gameplay, this season has delivered on the promise that Survivor made to its fans when it introduced its first cutthroat season.

Catch up on all the action on Paramount Plus, which has every episode of every season of Survivor, and join the battle over the title of Sole Survivor on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. EST.