Entertainment
Netflix Has An Unrated Comedy That Makes Funerals Funny
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Normally, I’m perfectly okay when a Jay Baruchel vehicle gets tanked by critics because there’s something about the characters he portrays that irritates me to no end. After watching 2007’s Just Buried, I had a similar revelation about him that I recently had about Justin Long. Justin Long is often typecast as a jerk because he’s so good at playing that guy. Similarly, Jay Baruchel has an innate ability to play a hapless wiener who you just want to give a swirlie.
I know my thinking is wrong here because actors like Baruchel and Long get typecast in these roles precisely because they’re exceptionally good at them. The reason I don’t like their characters is because they’re not supposed to be likable. This isn’t an indictment of who they are as real people, but a celebration of the talent they bring to the table and how well it works when applied correctly.
Though Just Buried’s 33 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes would lead you to believe this isn’t one of Jay Baruchel’s finer hours, I’m going to respectfully disagree. It’s one of the few movies where he gets top billing (2013’s This is the End being the other one) that I’d actually recommend to anybody curious about what he has to offer.
A Deadly Inheritance
Jay Baruchel’s Oliver Whynacht (pronounced “why not”) is more charming in Just Buried than the critics would have you think. Summoned to a small town in Nova Scotia for his father Rollie’s (Jeremy Akerman) funeral, Oliver, a grocery store delivery boy with no real prospects on the horizon, is shocked to learn he’s inherited his entire estate, including the struggling funeral home Rollie owned and operated. What Oliver doesn’t realize is that the business is facing bankruptcy because rival owner Wayne Snarr (Christopher Shore) has been poaching all of his potential clients from the nearby retirement home.
Rollie’s widow, Roberta (Rose Byrne), who works as the embalmer, quickly befriends Oliver, and the two hit it off. Their budding friendship is tested when Oliver, who gets a nosebleed whenever he’s stressed, accidentally runs over a pedestrian after a couple of drinks at the bar. Terrified he’ll go to jail for vehicular manslaughter, Oliver learns that Roberta is not only a skilled embalmer, but also the town’s coroner and Police Chief Knickle’s (Nigel Bennett) daughter.
After staging the scene to look like the pedestrian suffered a fatal fall during one of his nightly walks, Roberta handles the autopsy, giving Oliver his first customer at the funeral home when the victim’s wealthy family comes to pay their respects. This creates a twofold problem. First, locals grow suspicious about the man’s death, meaning potential witnesses may need to be dealt with, something Roberta seemingly has no qualms about. Second, Roberta suggests sabotaging Wayne Snarr so they can get the funeral home’s books back in black once they’re the only game in town again.
The body count in Just Buried keeps climbing because Oliver and Roberta want to protect themselves, but they also realize they’ve stumbled onto a disturbingly effective business model. Dead people need funerals, funeral homes need dead people, and Roberta knows how to make people dead as if she’s been quietly planning something like this long before Oliver came into the picture. Oliver, whose nose starts bleeding whenever pressed by Chief Knickle, becomes the primary suspect in the string of deaths. Roberta, given her unique position in a small town where everybody knows everybody, remains calculating enough to stay one step ahead of the authorities.
Expert-Level Escalations
What makes Just Buried far better than its reputation suggests is how perfectly Jay Baruchel is cast as Oliver Whynacht. Everything I dislike about Baruchel’s on-screen presence in films like 2010’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice translates perfectly here. Every time Oliver gets in trouble, I expect him to start huffing and puffing before blurting out “gee whiz,” or something equally irritating. In this film, that personality trait works because he’s not reluctantly embarking on a magical adventure, but instead spiraling through a steadily escalating situation that could land him behind bars for the rest of his life.
Rose Byrne’s portrayal of Roberta Knickle is equally commendable here. At first, she comes off as an eccentric yet helpful accomplice in the incident that kicks off the gruesome chain of events in Just Buried. As Oliver spends more time with her, it becomes clear she’s a low-key psychopath whose reach and influence over the community is far wider than anybody would ever expect. The result is a morbidly hilarious mystery thriller that’s sharper and funnier than it has any right to be.
Just Buried is currently streaming on Netflix.
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 26, 2026
Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you’re a shining star.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?
Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What’s the best Wordle starting word?
The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?
The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?
It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
Sheen.
Mashable Top Stories
Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
The letter S appears twice.
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today
Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter G.
The Wordle answer today is…
Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today’s Wordle is…
GLOSS
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle 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.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
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 Wordle.
Entertainment
Alan Ritchson's Extremely Graphic Sci-Fi Series Is The Best Show You've Never Watched
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Before he was Reacher, but after he was Thad, Alan Ritchson played Barbie. Not that Barbie, Arthur Bailey, the hero of SyFy’s wild series, Blood Drive. A throwback to the grindhouse cinema of the 70s, Blood Drive is the most twisted series to air on the cable channel. If you think a show about a cross-country death race in a future wrecked by environmental catastrophe and controlled by a mega corporation sounds like Death Race 2000 or Twisted Metal, well, you’re right. There’s one small difference. The cars in Blood Drive run on human blood.
Gas Is People
Set years after the United States was cracked in half by earthquakes along the Mississippi river, Blood Drive’s evil corporation, Heart Enterprises, has monopolized the rare resources exposed by the massive fault. Water’s scarce, and gas is hard to come by, so of course the solution is cars that run on blood, which have helpful grinders built into the engines for sticking human bodies. Not all of them have that of course, but when you see the inside of the psychotic Grace’s (Christina Ochoa) car, you won’t soon forget it.
Grace and Arthur, a cop trying to do the right thing, are reluctantly partnered for the cross-country race. Together, they hit one nightmare after another on the open highway, from cannibals to Amazons, with every new city and rest stop hiding a deadly secret. Every now and then, they stumble across a small town in need of a few good men. Except this is Blood Drive. There are no heroes here.
It’s no surprise which character ended up becoming the fan favorite: Julian Sink, the Blood Drive Master of Ceremonies. Played over the top by Stargate’s Colin Cunningham (also John Pope in TNT’s Falling Skies), no one can out dandy Sink. He’s eccentric, he might be insane, and you can’t help but be charmed by the man with personality to spare.
Blood Drive Was Pure Grindhouse Fun
Alan Ritchson’s involvement in Blood Drive seems weird to everyone who only knows him from Reacher. Ritchson’s sense of humor lands right in the Grindhouse aesthetic, which is why he can deliver lines like “why are hot girls so mean,” when the Amazon Queen has him tied down. It’s an insane series that is well-served by the case-of-the-week setup. In addition to the Amazons and cannibals, there are nymphomaniacs, zombies, an asylum, a fight club, and an Asian martial arts-inspired episode. Again, this is an insane series filled with blood, guts, and sex. Thanks to the two leads, there’s something here to appeal to anyone.
Blood Drive only lasted one season and it sort of wraps up the story. SyFy cited poor ratings, but then again, they didn’t do a whole lot of marketing for the show that sounds ridiculous at first, and remains ridiculous, but it hides a wicked sense of black humor. Blood Drive is hard to find streaming, with episodes only available for purchase from YouTube and Fandango at Home, and the Blu-Ray has been out of print for nearly a decade.
If you can find it, Blood Drive is the perfect watch for anyone who enjoys the old-school grindhouse aesthetic, or wants something that dares to be different. The best part of the series though, the fake commercials for Grindhouse movies, the same gag used by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse double-feature, are left off the home video releases. Still, if you want to see Alan Ritchson murder people, or Colin Cunningham have the time of his life, it’s worth hunting down a copy of SyFy’s bloodiest series ever.
Entertainment
How The Best Fantasy Movie Of The Decade Was Destroyed By Corporate Greed
By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated
The most successful fantasy films of all time, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Harry Potter, have reigned at the top of the mountain for decades, yet the genre has experienced a resurgence in recent years thanks to the rise of podcasts. Actual play podcasts featuring players going through a tabletop RPG have become one of the hottest genres of the new medium, and the best of them, including Critical Role, Dimension 20, and Not Another D&D Podcast, were based on Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition.
You’d think that 2023’s Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the best fantasy movie of the last decade, would have become a hit, but instead it disappointed at the box office (ironically, thanks to the franchise owner, Wizards of the Coast, horrible timing). Now it’s finally developing a following.
A Tabletop Adventure On The Big Screen
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves picks up after the adventuring party of Edvin the Bard (Chris Pine), Holga the Barbarian (Michelle Rodriguez), Simon the Sorcerer (Justice Smith), Doric the Druid (Sophia Lillis), and Forge the Thief (Hugh Grant) were betrayed by the obviously evil wizard Sofina (Daisy Head). Out for revenge, Evin and Holga get the band back together, go into an actual dungeon complete with a dragon, and pull off a fantastical heist.
The film has everything fans of the game have wanted to see on the big screen for decades, including an aarakocra and a cameo appearance by the characters from the 80s Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon. Actual spells from the tabletop game are used, and real mechanics were played out.
All of this helped make the rollicking adventure feel like someone’s homebrew campaign brought to life. Even for those who don’t play the tabletop game, the comedy beats all and makes it a fun fantasy adventure.
Why Dungeons & Dragons Failed To Find A Big Theater Audience
Mere weeks before Honor Among Thieves was released, Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns Dungeons and Dragons, did something so heinous it caused a boycott by fans. For more than 20 years, the game had operated under the Open Gaming License (OGL).
That OGL let independent writers and small companies create adventures, rulebooks, podcasts, and entire businesses built around D&D without fear of being shut down. And Wizards of the Coast decided to end it all.
A leaked draft of a new license Wizards of the Coast was planning appeared online. The Open Game License was being changed so that Wizards would get a 25 percent cut of everything fans earn when a creator makes more than $750,000 from monetizing the game. Worse still, the new terms would ban all online tabletop simulators and allow Wizards of the Coast to claim sole ownership of anything created by fans.
This leak of the company’s plans sparked a firestorm in the Dungeons & Dragons community. Core fans revolted en masse. An organic, fan-driven boycott of the company and everything it was involved with began. That boycott included the movie, meaning the group of people Hollywood expected as the film’s core supporters were not only avoiding it, but actively campaigning to keep it from being seen. It worked.
The film received a favorable response from those who saw it, with a 91 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes from over 300 reviews by critics and a matching 92 percent from over 2,000 reviews by the public. Yet Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves underperformed, barely squeaking by with $200 million worldwide. That failure is undeniable, but it’s not the fault of the movie. Honor Among Thieves was destroyed by the greed of the company that owns its IP.
The backlash became so intense that Wizards eventually reversed course and released key D&D rules under a Creative Commons license, making them far harder to control in the future. But that change was too late to save Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Standing On Its Own
Removed from the drama of early 2023, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves can now stand on its own merit. Thanks to streaming, audiences are watching and enjoying the movie.
Unfortunately, the movie’s weak performance destroyed the hope of a sequel. However, if Honor Among Thieves continues to gain a much-deserved cult following, there’s always a chance that the writer/director duo of Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (who also worked with Pine on Horrible Bosses 2) will get another chance to bring the game to life.
Whether Honor Among Thieves gets the sequel it deserves or not, thanks to streaming, fans can enjoy the funniest fantasy movie since Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and newcomers can get a taste of what it’s like to play the most popular tabletop role-playing game in the world.
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