Entertainment
Perfect, Unrated Comedy Thriller Will Help You Reach Your Final Form
By Robert Scucci
| Published
If you’re of a sound mind and in good health, and everything is going great in your life, you probably won’t ever find yourself manipulated into joining a cult. Or, if you’re like Ansel Roth (Leland Orser) from 2014’s Faults, you’re so against the idea of cults separating families and ruining lives that you devote your own life to seeking out victims and reprogramming them so they can go back to the way things were before running away from home.
This is where things get messy, because what if you also owe a ton of money to your loan shark publisher at the same time a desperate family tracks you down so you can reunite them with their estranged daughter? You have no guarantees that you can help them, but you can probably get the cash you need, put on a good show, walk away relatively unscathed, and move on with your life.
At least that’s what Ansel thinks will happen in Faults, but it’s only a matter of time before his reckless behavior catches up with him.
One Sad, Sad Man’s Disingenuous Redemption Arc
In Faults, Ansel Roth is living a very sad life, traveling from cheap hotel to cheap hotel, trying to push his new book. Though his first published work was a highly successful tome about deprogramming cult victims so they could go back to their old lives, his new book is simply a cash grab meant to recoup losses from his recent divorce and other life failings.
Though he has trouble selling his new book, he’s at least able to work out a free room and meal per hotel visit, and otherwise lives out of his car. It’s all really pathetic, but there’s also a sense of entitlement that makes the whole situation disproportionately funny, particularly when he argues over fraudulent meal vouchers and steals all the towels and remote batteries from whatever room he’s about to get kicked out of.
To make matters worse for Ansel, his manager, Terry (Jon Gries), not only severs ties with him because he’s not moving any units, but demands payment for past debts within a week, or else. He even sends one of his goons, Mick (Lance Reddick), to threaten him in person as Ansel travels the country on his increasingly pathetic book tour.
Desperate for cash, and considering the possibility that his entire career is a joke, Ansel is approached by Evelyn (Beth Grant) and Paul (Chris Ellis) about their daughter, Claire (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who ran away to become a member of Faults, an elusive cult that preys on the innocent. Ansel, in his infinite wisdom, agrees to help deprogram her for the exact amount of money he owes Terry so he can put all of his failures behind him and move on with his life.
The plan is simple at first. Ansel, with Evelyn and Paul’s permission, hires actors to stage Claire’s abduction. Staying at yet another seedy motel, Ansel gets to work with Claire, who doesn’t know her parents are staying in the adjoining room, waiting for her breakthrough. Matters are continually complicated by Claire’s resistance to treatment, along with Mick making surprise appearances to collect the rest of the money Ansel owes Terry.
A Masterclass In Manipulation
Faults takes a deep dive into the exact kind of cult level manipulation you’re familiar with if you’ve watched any documentaries on the subject, but subverts expectations every step of the way. Ansel knows all the methods used to deprogram someone and has had mixed results in the past. He believes he needs to break Claire’s spirit and rebuild her from the ground up so she can assimilate back into her family and put Faults behind her.
Claire, on the other hand, has her own ideas about how things should work. She’s incredibly stubborn, and her behavior, along with external forces beyond her control like Terry and Mick’s looming presence, pushes Ansel into increasingly compromising positions. Constant money runs and impromptu detours during deprogramming sessions leave him sleep deprived, slowly wearing away his resolve and, in many cases, giving Claire the upper hand.
What’s so enthralling about Faults is just how deeply everybody digs themselves in for their own selfish reasons. Ansel needs money. Claire doesn’t want to leave her cult. Her parents want everything to go back to the way it was, even if the way things were years ago no longer serve Claire, who is now an adult.
On some level, everybody is manipulating everybody else, and Faults makes you question who’s actually the real article. Half the fun is figuring out who’s pulling one over on who, and this feeling of distrust and animosity is pushed onto the audience in ways that make you never really want to root for anybody, while also hoping the right party gets what they’re looking for.
As of this writing, Faults is streaming for free on Tubi.
Entertainment
Best Buy is running free Pokémon Trade and Play events this weekend — score free packs, trade, and shop exclusive collections
TL;DR: Best Buy is running free Pokémon Trade and Play events on Feb. 28 (12-2 p.m. local time). Participants can score free packs, trade cards, and shop exclusive collections.
We’ve made a lot of noise about Pokémon’s 30th birthday celebrations, and so has the rest of the world. We’ve seen genuine excitement over new Pokémon TCG releases, the first-ever Lego Pokémon sets, and the return of nostalgic Pokémon games, and it feels like there’s more to come from this special anniversary.
Best Buy is clearly feeling the party vibes. On Feb. 28 (12-2 p.m. local time), Best Buy stores across the country will host in-store Trade and Play events, with demo stations, Pokémon TCG trades, exclusive card drops, freebies, expert tuition, and a whole lot more. Attend solo, bring a friend, or gather together everyone from your neighborhood. This is going to be big.
Mashable Trend Report
Somehow still on the fence? Here’s a snapshot of what you can expect from these special events:
Before you set off, it’s important to check out Best Buy’s Pokémon page to find a Trade and Play event at a store near you. Once that’s sorted, you’re all set to capture the magic of Pokémon this weekend.
Topics
Pokemon
Trading Cards
Entertainment
Get the 65-inch Samsung The Frame Pro for $600 less at Amazon
SAVE 29%: As of Feb. 27, you can get the 65-inch Samsung The Frame Pro LED Smart TV (LS03FW, 2025) for $1,497.99, down from $2,097.99, at Amazon. That’s a 29% discount or $600 savings. It’s also the lowest price we’ve tracked to date!
$1,497.99
at Amazon
$2,097.99
Save $600.00
To say I despise the look of a giant TV sitting at the front of my living room would be putting it lightly. It’s just not my idea of a relaxing setting. That’s why I’ve always loved the concept of Samsung‘s The Frame TV. It’s designed to blend in with your decor and doubles as a piece of art when it’s not on.
As of Feb. 27, you can get the 65-inch Samsung The Frame Pro LED Smart TV (LS03FW, 2025) for $1,497.99, down from $2,097.99, at Amazon. That’s a 29% discount or $600 savings. It’s also the lowest price we’ve tracked to date!
The 2025 Frame Pro upgrades the standard viewing experience with a virtually glare-free screen featuring a subtle matte texture that makes the digital artwork look like a real, physical print. When you aren’t watching your favorite shows, it shifts into Art Mode, which lets you display a curated collection of museum-worthy pieces from the Art Store or even upload your own photos. Bonus: It comes with a Slim Fit Wall Mount to ensure the TV hangs nearly flush against your wall.
Mashable Deals
It uses a Neo QLED panel with mini LEDs for precise lighting, and it features a Wireless One Connect hub so you can hide all your messy cables away from the screen itself. It’s basically the most aesthetic TV on the market.
Entertainment
Raunchy, R-Rated Action Comedy From South Park Creators Nearly Broke Them
By Robert Scucci
| Published
There’s only one thing more amusing than watching 2004’s Team America: World Police, and that’s listening to the Season 8 commentary tracks on the South Park DVDs. Not only did Team America: World Police require a biblical amount of work from Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and their puppeteering production crew to pull it off, they were also concurrently working on their flagship series, a time they now refer to as the year from hell when looking back at this era of their careers.
Parker and Stone worked themselves into the ground with Team America: World Police, resulting in some of the most unhinged episodes South Park has to offer.
Episodes like “Cartman’s Incredible Gift,” which I consider essential viewing and a perfect entry point to the series, have commentary tracks from Parker and Stone suggesting they don’t even remember making the episode because they were so locked in at that point that they were putting very little thought into the minor details. They were contractually obligated to stick to their grueling production schedule, and relied on their manic, do-or-die energy to pull it off. The finale, “Woodland Critter Christmas,” one of South Park’s most notorious episodes, is another example of a zero-hour effort that was constantly reworked until just a day before it aired.
Team America’s Grueling Production
Always leading with what’s funny and figuring out how to do it later, Parker and Stone had no idea how complicated it would be to pull off their movie, which they fully intended to play like a Jerry Bruckheimer production starring marionettes. Dozens of scale replica set pieces were constructed, including Paris, Cairo, the Panama Canal, Mount Rushmore, and North Korea.
Their vision was simple. They wanted each location to look like how it’s depicted in action movies, and therefore how the average American thinks it looks.
Additionally, 270 puppet characters had to be built, along with over a thousand costumes to make Team America: World Police possible. Given the puppets’ roughly two-foot stature, countless props had to be custom made to accommodate their size, along with multiple animatronic heads that would be attached to their bodies. Controlling the puppets proved exhausting, resulting in unthinkably long shooting days with only a handful of usable dailies passed off to editors compared to films made through more conventional means. Rumor has it that designing Kim Jong-il’s glasses was a painstaking process due to camera glare, making them one of the most expensive props in the movie.
America, F*** Yeah!
Team America: World Police centers on the titular international counterterrorist organization, run by its fearless leader, Spottswoode (Daran Norris). Under his command are psychologist Lisa, psychic Sarah, martial arts expert Chris, Carson, and all American jock Joe. Together, they fight terrorism by causing so much collateral damage to whatever locale they visit, that a terrorist attack would actually leave the area better off. When Carson is killed and a new threat reveals itself, Spottswoode recruits Gary Johnston, a Broadway actor, to use his acting skills to infiltrate various terrorist factions.
Meanwhile, Kim Jong-il is revealed to be the true mastermind behind the terrorists, and the supplier of WMDs, unbeknownst to Team America, resulting in the Film Actors Guild throwing Team America under the bus for their sloppy, reckless work.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of watching Team America: World Police, all you need to know is that it carries itself like every over the top action movie, but with enough raunch that it almost landed an NC-17 rating.
By then, knowing exactly how to work with censors, Parker and Stone knew what they had to do. By filming a prolonged sex scene with the puppets that was far longer than what they needed for the film, they simply waited for the production notes explaining how short the scene would have to be in order to secure an R rating.
Appreciate The Hustle
Though it’s not my favorite Trey Parker and Matt Stone vehicle, Team America: World Police is indirectly responsible for some of the best episodes South Park has to offer. Had they not taken on such an ambitious project while also working on the series in tandem, we may have never gotten episodes like “Good Times with Weapons,” “Awesome-O,” “Goobacks,” “Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes,” “Quest for Ratings,” or “Cartman’s Incredible Gift.”
Don’t get me wrong. Matt Damon only being capable of saying his own name, poorly, in Team America: World Police because his puppet came off the production line looking a little dim is comedy gold. But topical political humor is fleeting. South Park is forever.
Team America: World Police is streaming on Paramount+.
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Blues' Dylan Holloway returns to action with hat trick vs. Kraken
