Entertainment
Kids Today Will Never Understand Waking Up To This Commercial At 2 AM
By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated

Everyone who lived through the 90s had the same experience. You were watching Rhonda Shear’s Up All Night movie, or playing Final Fantasy 7, and you fell asleep on the couch clutching the remote. You groggily wake up around 2 AM, and there it is on the TV, the commercial that means you’ve made a terrible mistake: Pure Moods. Wondering where you are while the opening of Enigma’s “Return to Innocence,” or Enya’s “Orinoco Flow” (you know it as “Sail Away Sail, Away Sail Away”) is blasting you for 30 seconds was a rite of passage. Kids today don’t know what those direct order CD commercials were like, and they’re missing out on the majesty of Pure Moods.
A New Age Wake Up Call
Back in the day, before streaming music, companies would put together oddball compilation CDs and sell them directly via a phone number you could call. The commercials all followed the same formula. A scrolling list of tracks on the album with the one currently playing highlighted in yellow as it goes by, and a clip from a music video or, in the case of Pure Moods, a relaxing scene straight out of the videos dentists used to have playing in their office. Monsters of Rock, Classical Thunder, Greatest Love Ballads, all of them followed the same playbook.
Pure Moods originally hit the airwaves in 1994 and turned New Age music into an overnight success. Airing a commercial when ad rates were the absolute cheapest possible meant saving a ton of money, and they went directly to a sleepy, groggy, susceptible audience that heard Vengelis’ “Chariots of Fire” and thought, “This is pure fire.” The re-release in 1997, with an updated track listing that included “The X-Files Theme (DADO Paranormal Activity Remix)” was even more successful. It’s creepy, but cool and memorable, and besides, in 1997, who didn’t love The X-Files?
If you were already awake when the Pure Moods commercial hit, it was the sign to go to bed. Back in the 90s, television had an end. Stations didn’t run content 24/7, usually, after the final late night show signed off there would be one or two infomercials, or a local access show from the affiliate that aired, or if you were lucky enough to be in Philadelphia or New York, ECW Hardcore Television. After that, the station would go dark and all you’d see was static on the TV until it started up again around 6 or 7 AM. Pure Moods airing was a sign.
America’s Brief Love Affair With Direct Order CDs

The success of the first two volumes of Pure Moods lead to music company Virgin releasing over a dozen other Moods compilations, including Cinema Moods, Romantic Moods, and the two surprise breakout hits, Gregorian Moods and Celtic Moods. For a brief period of time, America was obsessed with Gregorian monk chanting, and then River Dance, and you know, there’s really no explanation for either other than the same reason every kid wanted Crossfire, those commercials were very effective.
Streaming has changed the television landscape and now, you don’t get ridiculous direct mail CD commercials. You can fire up Spotify. YouTube, or Apple Music and find microtargeted AI playlists for everything from “Men Who Move In Silence” with cover art ripped from Peaky Blinders or “Music To Heal Your Heart After You’re Left On Read” featuring a Polynesian beach. The magic of catching snippets of songs that burrow their way into your head and convince you to try out a whole new genre of music is long gone. I say that as someone who will publicly confess owned Pure Moods, Classical Thunder, and Monsters of Rock. Laugh all you want over the New Age soundtrack of the 90s, but that album slapped.
Entertainment
How to watch Norway vs. England online for free
TL;DR: Live stream Norway vs. England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup for free on ITVX. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN, an Official Supporter of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is reaching its dramatic conclusion. One half of the semi-final stage has already been decided, and now Norway face off against England for a place in the final four.
England came through an epic clash with Mexico in the last round, relying on goals from Bellingham and Kane. Norway shocked the world by beating Brazil thanks to two goals from Erling Haaland. Can the Manchester City striker do the same against England? It’s going to be a fascinating battle between two confident sides.
If you want to watch Norway vs. England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Norway vs. England?
Norway vs. England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off at 5 p.m. ET on July 11. This fixture takes place at the Miami Stadium.
How to watch Norway vs. England for free
Norway vs. England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup is available to live stream for free on ITVX.
Mashable Top Stories
ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock ITVX to live stream the 2026 World Cup for free from anywhere in the world.
Live stream Norway vs. England for free by following these simple steps:
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Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)
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Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
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Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK
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Visit ITVX
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Watch Norway vs. England for free from anywhere in the world
$12.99 only at ExpressVPN
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of the 2026 World Cup without actually spending anything. This obviously isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream Norway vs. England (plus more World Cup fixtures) before recovering your investment.
ExpressVPN’s regular 30-day money-back guarantee is not available for any subscriptions purchased during the FIFA World Cup between June 10 and July 11. ExpressVPN remains our top pick for sport, but you will need to pay the monthly rate. Alternatively, Proton VPN still offers that all-important money-back guarantee.
What is the best VPN for ITVX?
ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on ITVX, for a number of reasons:
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Servers in 105 countries including the UK
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Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
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Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
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Fast connection speeds free from throttling
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Up to 10 simultaneous connections
A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99. That covers you for the duration of the World Cup.
Live stream Norway vs. England in the 2026 FIFA World Cup for free.
Entertainment
James Gunn’s Raunchy, R-Rated Superhero Comedy With Office Star Delivers Swift And Brutal Justice
By Robert Scucci
| Updated

Any grown man will tell you that some of the best moments of his childhood involved playing superheroes with his friends. If you could use your imagination, throw some sort of mask over your eyes, and maybe even arm yourself with the lid from a trash can, you were all set. It goes without saying that every friend group had one sociopath who wanted to be the villain, which is why the trash can lid came in handy. You didn’t have much time before they started throwing rocks, which more often than not resulted in parents getting involved.
If you’re wondering what it might look like if a grown adult decided to play dress-up and start fighting crooks after punching out from his day job, you pretty much get 2010’s Super, starring none other than Rainn Wilson as Frank Darbo, or, as he would like to be known, The Crimson Bolt.

Thinking about how kids playing superheroes is pretty much universal (my 5-year-old son has the capes in his toy chest to prove it), Super feels almost like wish fulfillment for those kids after they grow up. Except our hero is so misguided in his vigilantism that the best we’re going to get from him is “Shut up, crime!” before humiliating himself in most situations.
From Loser To Super
When we’re first introduced to Frank Darbo (Rainn Wilson) in Super, it’s well established that he’s not exactly a prize catch. He’s deeply religious, works as a short-order cook, and lets everybody walk all over him. This includes his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler), a reformed drug addict who quickly shifts her attention to a ruthless drug dealer named Jacques (Kevin Bacon). Absolutely heartbroken, and worried sick that his wife will relapse in her new lover’s company, Frank decides it’s time to take matters into his own hands after the religious superhero from the local TV station known as The Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion) pays him a visit in a dream.

Now calling himself The Crimson Bolt, Frank heads to the comic book store to do some research, where he meets Libby (Elliot Page), a nerd of the highest order who wants to help him fully embrace his alter ego. When he’s not working or researching, Frank is field-testing his Crimson Bolt suit by hiding behind dumpsters and waiting for crime to happen.
At first, we bear witness to some truly vulgar displays of power, if you could call it power because he has none. Frank gets into fights with people who cut him in line, and most of his crime fighting leaves both him and everybody else worse off after he intervenes. Once he starts building a reputation as a force for good, though, everybody catches on. Jacques and his goons realize he’s out for revenge because that’s what kicked off this entire crusade in the first place. Meanwhile, Libby wants in on the action. She knows Frank is running around as The Crimson Bolt and decides she should call herself Boltie and become his sidekick.

Together, The Crimson Bolt and Boltie are a force to be reckoned with. But is Frank’s gumption, and his sudden interest in building pipe bombs, enough to take down Jacques? And will The Holy Avenger support this kind of behavior? Only time will tell, but rest assured plenty of people get their asses kicked in Super.
Deserves Its Cult Status, But Don’t Compare It To Kickass
What’s most baffling to me is how Super only garnered a 50 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. For a dark comedy, it checks all the boxes. It has a conflicted protagonist who channels serious Dwight Schrute energy when he’s pushed into an awkward situation, and Kevin Bacon looks like he’s having an absolute blast playing the bad guy.

One possibility is that the James Gunn film was constantly compared to Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass, which came out the same year. It could be that audiences only had so much bandwidth for superhero comedies, and when push came to shove, Kick-Ass simply ended up being the more popular movie. Commenting on the similarities between the films, Millar chalked the whole thing up to parallel thinking. The reality is they were both working on similar ideas at roughly the same time, but the end result is two very different movies.
If I’m being honest, I think Super is the superior movie, mostly because nobody has any enhanced abilities. It’s a spiritual journey that one man goes through after his whole world falls apart, and his naivety about how the world works is what sells most of the humor. If anything, you should watch both films as a double feature because they’re cut from the same cloth while operating in completely different lanes.

As of this writing, Super is streaming for free on Tubi.

Entertainment
James Gunn’s Raunchy, R-Rated Superhero Comedy With Office Star Delivers Swift And Brutal Justice
By Robert Scucci
| Updated

Any grown man will tell you that some of the best moments of his childhood involved playing superheroes with his friends. If you could use your imagination, throw some sort of mask over your eyes, and maybe even arm yourself with the lid from a trash can, you were all set. It goes without saying that every friend group had one sociopath who wanted to be the villain, which is why the trash can lid came in handy. You didn’t have much time before they started throwing rocks, which more often than not resulted in parents getting involved.
If you’re wondering what it might look like if a grown adult decided to play dress-up and start fighting crooks after punching out from his day job, you pretty much get 2010’s Super, starring none other than Rainn Wilson as Frank Darbo, or, as he would like to be known, The Crimson Bolt.

Thinking about how kids playing superheroes is pretty much universal (my 5-year-old son has the capes in his toy chest to prove it), Super feels almost like wish fulfillment for those kids after they grow up. Except our hero is so misguided in his vigilantism that the best we’re going to get from him is “Shut up, crime!” before humiliating himself in most situations.
From Loser To Super
When we’re first introduced to Frank Darbo (Rainn Wilson) in Super, it’s well established that he’s not exactly a prize catch. He’s deeply religious, works as a short-order cook, and lets everybody walk all over him. This includes his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler), a reformed drug addict who quickly shifts her attention to a ruthless drug dealer named Jacques (Kevin Bacon). Absolutely heartbroken, and worried sick that his wife will relapse in her new lover’s company, Frank decides it’s time to take matters into his own hands after the religious superhero from the local TV station known as The Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion) pays him a visit in a dream.

Now calling himself The Crimson Bolt, Frank heads to the comic book store to do some research, where he meets Libby (Elliot Page), a nerd of the highest order who wants to help him fully embrace his alter ego. When he’s not working or researching, Frank is field-testing his Crimson Bolt suit by hiding behind dumpsters and waiting for crime to happen.
At first, we bear witness to some truly vulgar displays of power, if you could call it power because he has none. Frank gets into fights with people who cut him in line, and most of his crime fighting leaves both him and everybody else worse off after he intervenes. Once he starts building a reputation as a force for good, though, everybody catches on. Jacques and his goons realize he’s out for revenge because that’s what kicked off this entire crusade in the first place. Meanwhile, Libby wants in on the action. She knows Frank is running around as The Crimson Bolt and decides she should call herself Boltie and become his sidekick.

Together, The Crimson Bolt and Boltie are a force to be reckoned with. But is Frank’s gumption, and his sudden interest in building pipe bombs, enough to take down Jacques? And will The Holy Avenger support this kind of behavior? Only time will tell, but rest assured plenty of people get their asses kicked in Super.
Deserves Its Cult Status, But Don’t Compare It To Kickass
What’s most baffling to me is how Super only garnered a 50 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. For a dark comedy, it checks all the boxes. It has a conflicted protagonist who channels serious Dwight Schrute energy when he’s pushed into an awkward situation, and Kevin Bacon looks like he’s having an absolute blast playing the bad guy.

One possibility is that the James Gunn film was constantly compared to Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass, which came out the same year. It could be that audiences only had so much bandwidth for superhero comedies, and when push came to shove, Kick-Ass simply ended up being the more popular movie. Commenting on the similarities between the films, Millar chalked the whole thing up to parallel thinking. The reality is they were both working on similar ideas at roughly the same time, but the end result is two very different movies.
If I’m being honest, I think Super is the superior movie, mostly because nobody has any enhanced abilities. It’s a spiritual journey that one man goes through after his whole world falls apart, and his naivety about how the world works is what sells most of the humor. If anything, you should watch both films as a double feature because they’re cut from the same cloth while operating in completely different lanes.

As of this writing, Super is streaming for free on Tubi.

