Entertainment
The Raunchy, R-Rated 2000s Comedy That Won Acclaim By Being Over The Top
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Every now and then, there are movies that bomb at the box office but are still considered absolute masterpieces. One such film is Almost Famous (2000), which impressed every major critic (including Roger Ebert, the original film GOAT) and earned two Golden Globe awards and four Academy Award nominations. The success of the film is as ironic as it is startling: after all, it’s not every day that movies about sex, drugs, and rock and roll bring home the gold.
The secret to this film’s unexpected success is Cameron Crowe, the ambitious director who created what might be the most personal film ever made. The director channeled his own experiences as a Rolling Stone journalist into this movie, including some unforgettable tours with bands like the Allman Brothers. The result is a movie whose nostalgia for a bygone day is impossibly infectious. To see what the hype is about, you don’t need a VIP ticket or backstage pass. All you have to do is stream Almost Famous for free on Tubi!
On The Road Again
The premise of Almost Famous is that a brilliant 15-year-old boy falls in love with rock music, and he ends up interviewing Black Sabbath for Rolling Stone. Impressed by his work, his editor hires him to write a review of Stillwater, the band that was opening for Sabbath. This means hitting the road with the band, where the young writer learns more about these louder-than-life musicians and Penny Lane, the captivating leader of their groupies (though she prefers the term “band-aides”). Along the way, he learns that meeting your heroes can be painful, but not nearly as heartwrenching as falling in love.
The cast of Almost Famous is a veritable “who’s who” of Millennials’ favorite actors, including Zooey Deschanel, Jason Lee, Anna Paquin, and even Jimmy Fallon. There are also some real heavy hitters in the leading roles, including Billy Crudup (otherwise best known for Watchmen) as a tempestuous lead guitarist and Kate Hudson (otherwise best known for How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days) as his adoring groupie. But the biggest revelation of the film is Patrick Fugit (otherwise best known for Gone Girl), making his feature film debut as a young man who’s trying to find himself but keeps getting lost in the music.
More Than A Feeling
Sadly, Almost Famous was a box office bomb when it first premiered. Against a budget of $60 million, the movie earned only $47.4 million. However, it was a critical darling (more on this soon), and the movie soon became a cult hit on home video. While Cameron Crowe never released a follow-up film, he did write the stage musical adaptation of Almost Famous, which premiered in 2018 before later moving to Broadway.
Reviewers took one look at Almost Famous and decided this was one rollicking rockstar of a film. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 91 percent, with critics praising the movie for its easygoing story and ensemble performances from actors such as Kate Hudson and young Patrick Fugit. They also commended the film for its warmth. This is director Cameron Crowe’s love letter to a simpler time, and by the end of this film, you’ll agree with the movie’s implicit argument that it was a far better time.
A Celebration Of A Bygone Era
In many ways, the nostalgia factor is the biggest draw of Almost Famous. As a movie made over a quarter of a century ago, it holds special interest to any film buff wanting to step back into the pre-streaming glory days of ambitious blockbuster dramas. At the same time, the movie is a sloppy love letter to the ‘70s and everything that made that decade so groovy. To his credit, Crowe pulls it off, making this era seem like an impossibly vibrant counterpoint to the dreary drudgeries of the modern world.
Personally, I’m an ‘80s kid who never felt any real desire to live in a different time or place. But the sheer passion behind Almost Famous always makes me wish I could have been like the film’s protagonist: a wunderkind music junkie, coming of age as both a writer and a man on the road trip of a lifetime. He is surrounded by both beauty and fame, tempting him to all manner of sins along the way. However, he is both cleansed and tormented by something far more potent than carnal desire: a profound love of music.
Falling For The American Girl
Needless to say, Almost Famous is particularly perfect for anyone who loves music. If you spend all day with your headphones on, it’s because you understand one of this movie’s most elemental lessons: that nothing captures the beauty and the heartbreak of the human condition quite like a great song. In this film, music becomes a kind of divine force: something that can fill men with inspiration or simply drive them crazy. Either way, they sacrifice themselves on the altar of rock and roll so the rest of us heathens have something to believe in.
Above all else, Almost Famous functions as arguably the best coming-of-age story ever filmed. Our young protagonist experiences what most teenage boys can only dream of: the chance to tour the country in the company of rock stars and the women who love them. Along the way, he gets to make a name for himself by writing for one of the biggest publications in the country. But he soon discovers that what he wants and what he needs are two very different animals and that there is no pain quite as keen as growing up too fast.
Like A Rolling Stone
Too young to be a man and too experienced to be a boy, he finds himself adrift before realizing something profound. Namely, that in writing the story of this up-and-coming band, he is writing his own ticket, crafting a future he is passionate about rather than the one his mother has all planned out. He longs to escape suburban doldrums, transforming himself with a love of writing that will sustain him long after the beer-soaked tour has finally ended. It’s a story of romance, rebellion, and revolution. Honestly, does it get more rock and roll than that?
Almost Famous is offering you a chance to tour with the band, but are you going to take the ride? Even if you don’t have cash, grass, or a$$, this is one occasion when you really can ride for free. All you have to do is snag the remote from your favorite groupie and stream Cameron Crowe’s cinematic masterpiece on Tubi, completely for free!
Entertainment
20 noise-cancelling headphones and earbuds deals live ahead of Amazons Big Spring Sale
Best noise-cancelling headphones deals ahead of the Big Spring Sale
If spring is the season of cleaning and rebirth, why can’t that include your old, half-functioning noise-cancelling headphones barely hanging on to half their original battery life?
While Black Friday and Prime Day are generally great times of year to pick up a new pair of headphones, that doesn’t mean you’re left high and dry in the spring, especially thanks to Amazon’s Big Spring Sale.
The sitewide sale starts for its third year running on March 25 and goes all the way through March 31. Prime and non-Prime members alike can enjoy savings, and while this sale is more focused on season-appropriate savings like outdoor gear, home essentials, and cleaning supplies, historically we’ve also seen great deals on tech like noise-cancelling headphones.
Amazon’s Big Spring Sale kicks off on March 25 this year. Here’s how we’re prepping for it.
The Spring Sale isn’t necessarily Black Friday-level, so some early deals are just as good as what you’ll see live during the sale. With that in mind, we gathered 20 of the best noise-cancelling headphones and earbuds deal live ahead of the sale:
Note: any deals with a strike are no longer available at the time of writing.
Best noise-cancelling headphones on sale
$398
at Amazon
$459.99
Save $61.99
Why we like it
Sony’s flagship WH-1000XM6 headphones may not be the cheapest out there, even on sale for $61.99 off. Still, they’re some of the best headphones out there, and certainly one of the best sounding ones, with a great equalizer for fine tuning your listening experience. Add with their solid battery life, excellent ANC, and folding ear cups for some travel portability, and you have some well-rounded headphones. If you’re looking for a cheaper option, we recommend the Sony WH-CH720N.
Check out our full review of the Sony WH-1000XM6.
Mashable Deals
More early noise cancelling headphones deals
Best noise-cancelling earbuds on sale
$88
at Amazon
$129.99
Save $41.99
Why we like it
While there are plenty of great noise-cancelling earbuds out there, not all of them can claim to offer a performance that beats that AirPods 4 while costing less than $100. With the Sony WF-C710N on sale for $88, that’s exactly the case. While this isn’t the absolute lowest price we’ve caught these earbuds at (that would be $69.99), you’ll still save an impressive 32% on them. And, you’ll get a pair of earbuds with solid ANC, a comfortable enough fit for at least a few hours of continuous wear, easy to use touch controls, classic well-rounded Sony sound, and 8.5 hours of battery life per charge.
Check out our full review of the Sony WH-C710N.
More early noise-cancelling earbuds deals
Entertainment
iPhone exploit DarkSword has been released in the wild: How to protect yourself
DarkSword, the web-based hacker tool that can be used to steal data from millions of iPhones, has just been published on GitHub for public use. Cybersecurity experts say Russian hacking groups are actively using DarkSword “to fully compromise devices.”
Now that the exploit is public, any would-be cybercriminal can just quickly copy and paste the DarkSword code, take a few minutes to set it up on their web host, and deploy the spyware.
Last week, reports about the new hacker tool called DarkSword sparked so much concern in the security world that Apple was forced to issue a quick response explaining how the company is addressing the threat. The reports came from Google’s Threat Intelligence Group and two cybersecurity firms, iVerify and Lookout.
Want to be the first to hear about our latest tech coverage? Sign up for Mashable’s Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.
What is DarkSword?
DarkSword is an exploit that lets hackers steal data from vulnerable iPhones running outdated versions of iOS.
DarkSword has concerned cybersecurity professionals because it doesn’t require that the hacker’s target download any malware or corrupted files. Hackers can simply download the DarkSword HTML and Javascript and upload it to a compromised website. If a user with an old version of iOS visits the compromised site, their device becomes vulnerable. The hacker can then steal data such as passcodes, emails, private messages, and more from the victim’s iPhone.
Mashable Light Speed
As Lookout reported last week:
In a tangible example of how attacks are evolving, Lookout Threat Labs has discovered DarkSword, a full iOS exploit chain and payload for iPhones running iOS versions between iOS 18.4 and 18.6.2…DarkSword aims to extract an extensive set of personal information including credentials from the device and specifically targets a plethora of crypto wallet apps, hinting at a financially motivated threat actor. Notably, DarkSword appears to take a ‘hit-and-run’ approach by collecting and exfiltrating the targeted data from the device within seconds or at most minutes followed by cleanup.
Google cybersecurity researchers reported that the notorious hacker group UNC6353, which is suspected to have ties with the Russian government, previously deployed DarkSword on compromised Ukrainian government agency sites to target iPhone users within Ukraine.
iVerify told TechCrunch that the DarkSword exploit that’s now in the wild is slightly different but “shared the same infrastructure.” According to iVerify, no iOS experience is needed to run the exploit and it will work “out of the box.”
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
As TechCrunch also reported, another X user shared that they were able to hack their iPad mini 6th gen running iOS 18.6.2 with the DarkSword exploit that was just released in the wild.
Apple previously reported on its developer website that nearly 25 percent of all iPhones are still running iOS 18, meaning hundreds of millions of iOS devices are susceptible to this exploit. The current version of iOS is iOS 26.3.1.
How to protect your Apple devices from DarkSword
Google’s Threat Intelligence Group urged iOS users to update their devices to the newest version of iOS, and if that’s not possible, to activate the iPhone’s Lockdown Mode.
Apple also said that it pushed out a critical security update on March 11 for older iOS devices that can’t install the more up-to-date iOS in order to protect these devices from DarkSword. Users with devices running iOS 13 or iOS 14 need to update to iOS 15 to receive these critical protections.
Entertainment
Unrated, Extremely Graphic Thriller Tries To Kill You But Can’t
By Robert Scucci
| Published
1978’s The Odd Job is a comedy of errors about a man who hires a janitor to kill him because he’s too much of a coward to end his own life. It’s a slapstick effort written by Graham Chapman that’s way funnier than its critical reputation suggests, and on one hand, I get it. It’s essentially the same gag repeated over and over again, with mixed results, landing if you’re a fan of the kind of irreverent humor that only somebody from the Monty Python comedy troupe could deliver with a wink and a nod.
Toying with a similar premise is 2014’s The Suicide Theory, which centers on a comparable setup but with wildly different results (namely, it’s not a comedy). In The Suicide Theory, we’re introduced to a contract killer hired by a man who no longer wants to live. The problem is that he’s given suicide the old college try on countless occasions leading up to this point and is convinced he’s invincible. While both films feature the same kind of contractual relationship in which one man wants to be eliminated from his mortal coil, The Suicide Theory is existentially heavy, focusing primarily on fate, free will, and how they’re constantly at odds with each other.
Steven And Percival’s Deadly Dynamic
The Suicide Theory wastes no time setting up its conflict when Steven (Steve Mouzakis) is tracked down by a desperate man named Percival (Leon Cain). Percival already looks worse for wear, with scars all over his face indicating that he wouldn’t be hiring a hitman if he hadn’t already tried to die, and failed miserably, countless times. Not even sure if Steven can successfully kill him, Percival hands over a large sum of cash and tells the killer that he doesn’t want to see it coming, and that since he believes he may be cursed, an attempt can only be made on his life if he looks legitimately happy.
Up to the challenge, but not one to believe Percival’s claims, Steven immediately shoots Percival in the chest three times upon making the arrangement, only for the man to wake up hours later in the hospital with no major injuries. Percival is further upset when he learns that the doctors found a massive tumor near one of the bullet wounds and were able to remove it while they were in there, meaning getting shot actually saved his life.
Fascinated by this project, Steven, who’s lost his passion for contract killing, keeps his promise and continues searching for new ways to execute Percival, none of which work. Steven, who’s been afraid of crossing streets ever since his wife was struck by a car and killed three years prior, can’t always chase Percival down due to his phobia, but has no qualms about hailing a taxi cab to help him cross the street if he needs to.
An Exploration Of Fate And Purpose
As we get to know the two principal players in The Suicide Theory, it becomes evident that they’re not so different. One man is a hardened, cold-hearted killer who’s lost his passion for the game, while the other is so deeply wounded that even multiple suicide attempts can’t put him out of his misery.
It’s almost as if he’s done something so horrible in life that his cosmic punishment is never being able to end it on his own terms. The two men become friends, if you could call it that, and come to realize they were supposed to meet each other, as if fate had been waiting for them. The reason their paths cross, when finally revealed, is the kind of gut punch that will make you wish you were watching The Odd Job instead, because it’s a brutal way to spend your time.
The Suicide Theory is not an easy watch, but it’s a rewarding one. It’s an exploration of fate and destiny taken to its most morbid conclusion, and it’s not without a dark sense of humor. It’s not “haha” funny by any stretch, but every time Percival wakes up in the hospital wondering how he made it out alive this time, you can’t help but sport a wry smile because he’s trying everything he can to not wake up ever again. Steven’s odyssey is all about finding purpose; he wants to hang up his gun for good, but knows this last job is an important one. But it’s up to you, dear reader, to figure out why.
The Suicide Theory is currently streaming for free on Tubi.
20 noise-cancelling headphones and earbuds deals live ahead of Amazons Big Spring Sale
iPhone exploit DarkSword has been released in the wild: How to protect yourself
