Entertainment
Kristen Stewart's Extremely R-Rated Action Comedy Is Pineapple Express Meets John Wick
By Robert Scucci
| Updated
Every single time I stream something with Jesse Eisenberg in it, I have to remind myself that I have free will, and that I can just watch all of his movies in some sort of sensible order. Zombieland (2009) is a modern classic horror comedy, The End of the Tour (2015) is a gut-wrenching yet hilarious biopic about David Foster Wallace that any serious reader should watch at some point in their life, and The Double (2013) doubles as an intense psychological thriller with a perfectly twisted sense of humor. I can keep listing titles, but you get the point. The man’s an actor’s actor through and through.
Had I known that Jesse Eisenberg starred in 2015’s American Ultra, an extremely violent action comedy about a comic book-drawing stoner who doesn’t know he’s a CIA sleeper agent until properly activated, resulting in a hilarious series of escalations that ultimately level an entire town with heavy artillery and a bunch of hapless shadow government goons, I would have watched it years ago.
The only thing I can do with my life now, outside of living in a constant state of regret for missing out on such a fun movie for over a decade, is spread the good word and recommend American Ultra to anybody who may have missed it.
A Sleeper Agent Living In A Sleepy Town
When we first meet Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) in American Ultra, he’s a total mess. He’s the kind of stoner who needs to stay constantly lit in order to function like a regular contributing member of society, but we soon learn that this isn’t entirely his fault. He works as a convenience store clerk and comes home to his long-term girlfriend, Phoebe (Kristen Stewart). Phoebe is beyond patient with him, especially because he suffers from horrible panic attacks whenever he tries to leave town, often ruining their planned vacations.
As it turns out, Mike has been programmed not to leave his small town of Liman, West Virginia because he’s a sleeper agent in his hibernation phase, and people are actively keeping tabs on him. He’s the last known surviving member of the “Wiseman” Ultra Program (inspired by MKUltra), run by CIA Agent Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton), who shows up at his work to activate him after learning that her rival, Adrian Yates (Topher Grace), plans to kill him using his own similarly trained “Toughguy” agents that he believes are superior.
Once Victoria rattles off the activation phrase, “Chariot Progressive, listen. Mandelbrot set is in motion. Echo Choir has been breached. We are fielding the ball,” Mike initially thinks it’s some obscure song lyric and goes back to work without a second thought. But when he’s later assaulted by two Toughguys outside, his very particular skill set (read: the ability to effortlessly kill scores of people) comes rushing back to him. The problem is that he’s still the same Mike he’s always been, only now he suddenly has no idea what he’s actually capable of.
After narrowly escaping two of Yates’ goons, Laugher (Walton Goggins) and Crane (Monique Ganderton), and regrouping with Phoebe, Mike slowly starts learning what’s really at stake. At the same time, he realizes he barely remembers anything about his life before settling down with Phoebe, who may know far more about his situation than she initially lets on.
Pineapple Express Meets John Wick
American Ultra takes the stoner humor from Pineapple Express, rolls it up nice and tight, and then lights up John Wick-style the second Mike is activated. Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Mike is so much fun to watch because he’s horrified by what he’s capable of, but also weirdly curious about how deep the conspiracy involving him, Lasseter, and Yates actually goes. Is he really the last of his kind? And can he take out the supposedly more sophisticated generation of sleeper agents designed to eliminate him?
At the same time, he’s just trying to keep his girlfriend safe, even though she’s surprisingly chill about the whole ordeal, which adds another layer of suspicion and tension to his already paranoid mental state. At the end of the day, though, American Ultra has a shockingly simple premise that lets you sit back and watch everybody start blasting when it matters most. It’s Jesse Eisenberg taking what he learned from Zombieland and applying it to a covert ops conspiracy where he’s an unwilling participant.
There’s no real moral dilemma here, or anything that requires deep thought. You just need to appreciate this one for what it is and enjoy the ride.
As of this writing, American Ultra is streaming for free on Tubi.
Entertainment
HBO's Most Raunchy, Boundary-Breaking Series Is Streaming Uncensored For The First Time
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
For decades, HBO’s first scripted comedy series, 1990’s Dream On, has been an internet legend. The series was impossible to find anywhere. Not because of the nudity, or the swearing, but the copyrighted movie clips and music. That’s why fans were stunned when it turned up on The Roku Channel, and unlike the version that aired on Comedy Central, it’s the original, uncensored version that aired on HBO.
If you’ve never heard of Dream On, you probably know the show that its creators, Marta Kaufmann and David Crane, put together after the raunchy comedy came to an end. A small sitcom called Friends.
Dream On Took Sitcoms In A Wild New Direction
Friends defined the traditional sitcom, and it would be easy to say that Dream On went the opposite direction and bucked convention, but it doesn’t. The show follows Martin Tupper (Brian Benben), a divorced book editor madly in love with his ex-wife, Judith (Wendy Malick). Martin’s misadventures, involving getting back into the dating pool, trying to co-parent his teenage son with Judith, and navigating a stifling work environment, are all standard sitcom tropes. Except for the constant movie and television clips. And the nudity.
Dream On’s gimmick is that Martin was raised in front of the television to the point that his internal monologue comes out in old black-and-white clips. They range from the opening to “Trojan War” featuring a clip about love from Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone to Marilyn Monroe’s Some Like It Hot. During a single scene, there can be a dozen quick cutaways, sometimes showing Martin’s reactions, other times acting as his responses. It’s a gag that works, and the production team was creative with their choices, digging deep into Hollywood history to find unexpected clips.
Saved From The Dustbin Of History
The plot of each episode doesn’t always revolve around sex, but most of them do. Martin’s dating life is the most unrealistic part of the series. Like Jerry Seinfeld, he has a series of girlfriends far out of his league, but unlike Jerry, he’s shown actually having sex (sometimes with diastrous results). No one on any other 90s sitcom had to face an ethical dilemma in which they discover a video of a popular children’s clown enjoying some adult time. That’s the plot of the Season 4 double-sized opener.
HBO wasn’t yet a media juggernaut when Dream On debuted in 1990, and back then, “HBO Original Programming” was essentially documentaries. The risqué comedy series opened the door for the network’s late 90’s rise with Sex and the City and The Sopranos, and without the misadventures of Martin Tupper, Friends wouldn’t exist as it does today.
Comedy Central aired the series in a heavily edited format, for both nudity and language, from 1996 through 1999, and then that was the last of Dream On. Quietly, the series arrived on The Roku Channel, but it was missing a few episodes. A few weeks later, and even those were ready for streaming, giving everyone complete access to the entire unedited, uncensored series for the first time in decades.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 17, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you love a hot drink.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. 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 today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. 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 of 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 until 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.
Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Mashable Top Stories
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Yellow: A funnel
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Green: To scam
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Blue: A good cuppa
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Purple: An academy
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Vote for your favorite creators today
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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 #1071 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Conduit: DUCT, LINE, MAIN, PIPE
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Swindle: FLEECE, HOSE, SQUEEZE, STIFF
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Tea-making verbs: BOIL, POUR, STEEP, STRAIN
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“School” modifiers: GRADE, GRAMMAR, HIGH, PRIMARY
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new 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? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
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
Sexy, Star-Studded Remake Of The Ultimate Adventure Comedy, Now Streaming On Netflix
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
When I heard we were getting a reboot of Jumanji, I was absolutely filled with dread. The original film was very special to me: it was a master class in acting from the late, great Robin Williams, and the plot about getting stuck inside a board game both frightened and delighted my adolescent self. I assumed any remake of this iconic film would be an insult to Williams and everyone else from the original Jumanji. Plus, the original sequel, Zathura: A Space Adventure, which was such a minor blip on the pop culture radar that I’d bet my board game collection you already forgot it ever existed.
Accordingly, I walked into my local theater in 2017, assuming that Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle would be complete trash and that I would be hate-watching it from beginning to end. To my immense surprise, however, the movie used the original Jumanji as a springboard to tell an innovative and original story featuring a quirky cast that meshed together shockingly well. The result is a modern adventure comedy that’s as funny as it is family-friendly, and you can now stream it on Netflix.
Like A Rock
In Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the titular tabletop adventure has been transformed into a ‘90s video game console that is discovered by some hapless high schoolers. They fire up this retro machine and are instantly sucked into the world of the game, which was heavily inspired by everything from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to the old Pitfall video game. In order to get back to reality, these teens (each stuck inside an adult body) must win the game. That means finding a way to stop its final boss: a mad professor who has taken control of the animals and turned everything in the jungle into a weapon.
The cast of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is eclectic, to put it mildly. Dwayne Johnson does his usual action hero thing, but he mercifully leans into his sillier side to embrace the broad comedy of this cinematic caper. The biggest punchlines come courtesy of two other, very different comedians: Kevin Hart, doing his reliably wacky schtick as a pint-sized sidekick, and Jack Black, playing hilariously against type as a teenage girl stuck in a man’s body. Rounding out the cast is Karen Gillan, the former Doctor Who companion who has now fully embraced her Marvel makeover as a modern action star.
If You Die In The Game, You Die In Real Life
The stakes never feel all that high in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, but that’s actually part of its appeal. This is a perfect movie when you want to grab a beer and just vibe out on the couch to pure, unadulterated fun. It’s great to watch with your friends because you don’t have to take the plot seriously, and everyone you invite over will love at least one member of the quirky cast. As long as your kiddos aren’t too young, this PG-13 movie is fun for the whole family, and if your teens live on Discord, they’ll enjoy the plot about being trapped in a life-or-death video game.
While Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is not the most original movie, it’s a great example of how a film can be greater than the sum of its parts. It’s based on the original Jumanji, and it brings in some of the “kids trapped in a fantastic world” elements of classics like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Its action/adventure elements are basically what you get if you smash the Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises together. Plus, the movie borrows heavily from the modern Marvel formula, with a brisk pace that always finds time for some surprisingly funny quips and unexpected punchlines.
Clean, Dumb Fun
As you can tell, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle isn’t a great choice for anyone looking for a wholly original film. But if you like the movies referenced above, this action-adventure is basically a buffet of genre goodness. Not a high-class buffet, either, but one of those local places that specialize in greasy carb bombs that slow down your heart in a “hurts so good” kinda way. In the spirit of those buffets, Welcome to the Jungle is not exactly a healthy part of your cinematic diet. But for anyone looking to consume a guilty pleasure of film, however, this Jumanji reboot really hits the spot.
Fittingly enough, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is true to the origins of the franchise. This isn’t a movie that will change your life, and it was never exactly in danger of taking home an Academy Award. But like all great board games and video games, it delivers the best kind of distractions in the form of a breezy plot, charismatic cast, and infectious humor. Whenever you’re ready for a much-needed break from the trials and tribulations of our hellworld, here’s some good news: you can now stream Jumanji: Welcome To the Jungle on Netflix.
It should be perfectly safe. After all, there’s no way you could possibly get stuck in this movie for the next two decades, right?
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