Entertainment
Quentin Tarantino Enjoys One Of The Biggest Failures Of The Year
By Matthew Swigonski
| Published
From picking out your favorite type of candy to choosing the perfect toppings for family pizza night, personal tastes are highly subjective, and our movie preferences are no different. Just ask Quentin Tarantino, who has come out and said that he actually enjoyed Joker: Folie à Deux, even finding comparisons to the 1994 film Natural Born Killers.
While it’s not exactly a secret that Joker 2 is considered one of the biggest failures of the year, Quentin Tarantino says that he found the flaws in the film to have endearing qualities that clicked with him more than he imagined.
Quentin Tarantino On Joker 2
While appearing on the October 22 episode of The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast, Quentin Tarantino and his Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary were sucked into a conversation regarding the box office flop, Joker 2. Despite the universal consensus that the film was an absolute disaster, the iconic filmmaker couldn’t help but view it from a different angle, admiring it for what it really is, a flawed movie that closely imitated the character it was centered around.
“I really, really liked it, really. A lot. Like, tremendously,” Tarantino told The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast host Bret Easton Ellis and Avary.
Appreciates The Flaws
To explain his reasoning, Quentin Tarantino said that he went into Joker 2 “expecting to be impressed by the filmmaking,” but he ultimately began to see the film as much more approachable than he originally envisioned. The Kill Bill director noted that he expected the movie to be “an arms-length, intellectual exercise that ultimately I wouldn’t think worked like a movie,” he told Ellis and Avary. “And I’m just nihilistic enough to kind of enjoy a movie that doesn’t quite work as a movie.”
Supporting one of the biggest failures of the year isn’t exactly an easy task, but if anyone has enough pull to successfully defend Joker 2, it’s Quentin Tarantino. Granted, he still called the film a “big, giant mess” that was a bit simplistic in its approach, but almost like watching a car crash in slow motion, Quentin Tarantino says that Joker 2 still managed to pull him in, admitting that he “really got caught up into it.”
Enjoyed The Musical Numbers
One of the aspects of Joker 2 that Quentin Tarantino liked the most was probably the one feature of the film that audiences across the globe have panned the most; the musical numbers. He revealed that for whatever reason, the music inside the film caught his attention and never let go, claiming that the more “banal” the song, the more engrossed he felt watching them.
As of October 29, Joker 2 currently holds a dual 32 percent critic and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, with many reviews pointing to the film’s odd pacing and uneven musical numbers as the biggest negative.
While Quentin Tarantino seems to be alone in his praise for Joker 2, he says that the film resonates with him on a personal level, which could explain his affection for the movie. He explained that while writing Natural Born Killers, he felt inspired by the film Taxi Driver.
While watching Joker 2, Quentin Tarantino says that the film “seems pretty f***ing indebted to Natural Born Killers, almost as if a torch has been passed between misunderstood films.
Source: The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for April 19, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re constantly changing.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Small change
The words are related to changes.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe fine-tuning.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is There I Fixed It.
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NYT Strands word list for April 19
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There I Fixed It
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Adjust
-
Modify
-
Alter
-
Improve
-
Tweak
-
Refine
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and 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 Strands.
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 19, 2026
Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you can never sit down.
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:
To rise.
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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
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Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.
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…
STAND
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
Hurdle hints and answers for April 19, 2026
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
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If you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.
Hurdle Word 1 hint
The edge.
Hurdle Word 1 answer
BRINK
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Hurdle Word 2 hint
Moody.
Hurdle Word 2 Answer
POUTY
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Hurdle Word 3 hint
America’s bird.
Hurdle Word 3 answer
EAGLE
Hurdle Word 4 hint
A platform.
Hurdle Word 4 answer
FORUM
Final Hurdle hint
Cheapskate.
Hurdle Word 5 answer
MISER
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
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