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There are many very good episodes of Hot Ones out there, but we may just have found a new spicy wing king.

In the Season 23 finale, legendary talk show host Conan O'Brien claims upfront that he's "terrible with hot food" before proceeding to laugh in the face of every wing placed in front of him — even going so far as to douse Da Bomb with extra source from the bottle, some of which he licks directly from the wing itself.

"I'm fine!" screams O'Brien at the end, with sauce covering his shirt and chin. "I'm perfectly fucking fine! You didn't come up with one wing that had an effect on Conan, 'cuz he's here to stay."

Hot Ones perfection.

TL;DR: Stream The Masters 2024 for free on 9Now. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Golf fans are a seriously dedicated bunch, so the wait for the first major championship of the year will have been tough to handle. But that wait is almost over, because The Masters is here to save the day.

The Augusta National brings together the very best players from around the world in a battle for the iconic green jacket. It really doesn't get much bigger or better for players and fans alike. All eyes will be on the Augusta National Golf Club, and you can watch this year's event without spending anything.

If you're interested in watching The Masters 2024 for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is The Masters?

The Masters is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. The tournament is scheduled for the first full week in April, making The Masters is the first major golf tournament of the year.

The Masters is always held at the Augusta National Golf Club, a private course in the city of Augusta, Georgia.

When is The Masters 2024?

The Masters 2024 takes place from April 11 to April 14.

How to watch The Masters 2024 for free

Australia’s Channel 9 has free-to-air broadcasting rights for The Masters in 2024, with free live streaming available on 9Now.

9Now is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can gain access to this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can connect to 9Now from anywhere in the world.

Access 9Now to stream The Masters by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia

4. Visit 9Now

5. Stream The Masters 2024 for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) £82.82 at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer free trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch The Masters live streams without actually spending anything. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does mean you can stream The Masters 2024 before recovering your investment.

If you want permanent access to free streaming platforms from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for The Masters?

ExpressVPN is the best service for unblocking free streaming sites like 9Now, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Australia

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £82.82 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Stream The Masters 2024 for free with ExpressVPN.

Knowing how to reset your iPhone is crucial.

If you're trading in an old phone, or giving it to someone as a hand-me-down, the main thing you'll want to do ahead of time is reset the device to its factory default settings (i.e., the way it was when you initially bought it).

The good news is that, on iPhone, this is very easy to do. Here's how to reset your iPhone.

First, make a backup

Before resetting your phone, it's paramount that you create a device backup first. That way, when you get a new iPhone, you can load up all your old apps and settings onto the new device.

Unless you're not getting a new phone and going wilderness-survival mode, in which case that's cool too.

Anyway, the easiest way to back up an iPhone is via iCloud. Open the Settings app and tap your name at the top of the page, then tap iCloud. From there, tap iCloud Backup and hit the button that says "Back Up Now." You can also turn on automatic backups from this menu if you want, but as long as you remember to do it manually, that's fine too.

Suffice it to say, make sure you remember your Apple ID and password so you can, you know, access the backup when it's time to do that.

SEE ALSO: Apple says Palestinian flag emoji recommendation when 'Jerusalem' is typed on iPhone will be fixed How to reset iPhone

Now that we've made a backup, the real fun begins. Here's a step-by-step process on how to reset your iPhone:

This is what you want to see. Dark mode optional. Credit: Screenshot: Apple

1. Open the Settings app

2. Tap "General"

3. Tap "Transfer or Reset"

4. Tap "Erase All Content and Settings"

5. Enter your Apple login information, if prompted

6. When ready, confirm that you want to reset the device

It's really that easy. Keep in mind that the actual process of erasing everything on your iPhone might take a few minutes, so don't worry if it doesn't happen instantly. Once you're done, enjoy your new iPhone.

Alex Garland has become one of genre film's most prominent voices, having written and directed modern science-fiction classics like Ex Machina and Annihilation. But how do all his films stack up against each other?

SEE ALSO: 'Civil War' review: Alex Garland's latest is more 'Men,' less 'Ex Machina'

For the sake of this ranking, I've included films that Garland has written and directed, as well as films for which he wrote the screenplay but did not direct, such as 28 Days Later. However, when possible, I've tried to rank the films for which he pulled double duty higher than others.

With that in mind, let's dive into Garland's work. Brace yourself for high-concept science fiction, polarizing choices, and heaps and heaps of existential dread. Here are Alex Garland's films, ranked.

8. Never Let Me Go Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield in "Never Let Me Go." Credit: Fox Searchlight / Dna / Kobal / Shutterstock

Look, I don't hate any movie on this list. I don't even really dislike any of them. But I do feel most indifferent about Never Let Me Go, which is why it's clocking in last.

Garland wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel of the same name, about three friends who grow up at Hailsham boarding school. The school's idyllic appearance disguises a sinister truth: All its students were born to be organ donors, and they won't live long into adulthood. With the threat of mortality constantly looming above them, Never Let Me Go's central trio — played by Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley — struggle to come to terms with what little is left of their lives. 

Prepare yourself for soft sci-fi elements and existential questions about souls, both of which figure into Ishiguro's original novel; they're also in keeping with the rest of Garland's films. However, the success of Never Let Me Go depends on the strength of the love triangle at its core, and it falls flat at almost every opportunity.

How to watch: Never Let Me Go is now streaming on Starz.

7. Dredd Karl Urban in "Dredd." Credit: Moviestore / Shutterstock

According to Dredd actor Karl Urban, this 2012 sci-fi action flick is Garland's true directorial debut. In a 2018 JoBlo interview, Urban revealed that Garland, who wrote Dredd's screenplay, helped shape the movie after Lionsgate ousted director Pete Travis from post-production due to disagreements. And honestly, Dredd's not at all a bad film to start out with!

SEE ALSO: The best sci-fi movies on Netflix to escape reality

Based on the Judge Dredd comics, Dredd takes us into a dystopian megacity where violence reigns supreme. Here, steely law enforcement officer Judge Dredd (Urban) and rookie Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) will fight their way through a massive high-rise complex in order to bring drug lord Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) to justice. It's a simple conceit that benefits from tight execution, kick-ass action, and just all-around fun. Urban rocks a gravelly voice! Thirlby is a psychic! Headey once again excels in full villain mode! Good times.

How to watch: Dredd is now streaming on Peacock.

6. Men Jessie Buckley in "Dredd." Credit: A24

One of Garland's most polarizing films, Men is really a mixed bag.

On the one hand, you've got an atmospheric piece of folk horror, where lush green forests and quiet villages hide unspeakable monsters. You've also got a great leading performance from Jessie Buckley, as well as uncanny supporting work from Rory Kinnear (in several spooky roles) and an underused Paapa Essiedu. Add in some genuine frights and an especially gnarly final act, and you're looking at a solid scarefest.

SEE ALSO: 'Men' review: A horror movie about misogyny should have something more to say

Still, how much does all of that matter when you're faced with Men's obvious (and not particularly new) messaging? The film's portrayals of misogyny sure are bone-chilling, as are its physical representations of how men perpetuate cycles of sexism — but Men doesn't have much more to say beyond that. Men may be an enthralling cinematic experience, yet it still feels bafflingly hollow.

How to watch: Men is now streaming on Paramount+.

5. Civil War Kirsten Dunst in "Civil War." Credit: A24

Hey, it's Garland's other most polarizing film — so polarizing it had people fighting in the internet trenches before its release. The debate comes down to Garland's "apolitical" approach to the film's U.S.-based conflict. Is Civil War's lack of explanation of its titular war a stroke of genius, or an ineffective cop out? At the risk of (ironically) "both sides-ing" the issue here, I honestly feel drawn to each argument at once, making for a film that is thorny, fascinating, and frustrating.

At its core, Civil War is a dystopian thought experiment. What happens if you take images of war that American audiences associate with far-off global conflicts and put them in an American context? The result is part cautionary tale, part harrowing travelogue through a war-torn America, and Garland certainly isn't pulling any punches. Each gunshot and explosion rings in your bones, and each encounter between our central group of journalists and other civilians leaves you shaken in different ways. You're left thinking less about the logistics of the war and more about the sensations of it, the experience of it.

SEE ALSO: Alex Garland and Wagner Moura on creating an anti-war war film with 'Civil War'

Yet the more distance I have from watching Civil War in theaters — where I was totally locked in — the more miffed I get. Yes, the film's scenes of war are especially troubling, but so much of that comes down to current ideological divisions that Garland barely acknowledges. Civil War feels so much like a warning because of outside context, not in spite of it. If anything, it's relying on our own political worries to sow seeds of dread so it doesn't have to provide any specificity itself. Civil War may be a great war movie, but it's a lousy movie about America. And when you're making a war movie about America, it's difficult to reconcile the two.

How to watch: Civil War is now in theaters.

4. Sunshine Cliff Curtis in "Sunshine." Credit: Fox Searchlight / Kobal / Shutterstock

Garland's collaborations with director Danny Boyle have given us two of the most exciting sci-fi films of the 21st century, so it's only fitting that they're both high up on this list. Let's kick things off with Sunshine, a 2007 thriller about a group of scientists on a last-ditch mission to restart our sun with a nuclear bomb. After an unplanned change in course, the scientists find themselves encountering disaster after disaster, each of which further whittles down the crew. Every obstacle the crew faces feels like a blow to the gut, as we feel not only the loss of each crew member, but also humanity's waning chances of survival. 

SEE ALSO: A stunning phenomenon appeared on the sun during the solar eclipse

Sunshine is both claustrophobic and infinite in scope, taking us from the tight quarters of the spacecraft Icarus II to the unfathomable brightness of the sun. A third-act twist brings us more into horror territory, but the focus is always on that sun — the magnetic pull of it, and the emerging reality that this mission was never really going to have a return. In addition to its aching existential dread and sci-fi stylings, Sunshine boasts an incredible ensemble cast that only gets better with time: Cillian Murphy! Michelle Yeoh! Hiroyuki Sanada! Chris Evans! Benedict Wong! Between them and the sun, this is a movie bursting with literal star power.

How to watch: Sunshine is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, or Apple TV+.

3. 28 Days Later Cillian Murphy in "28 Days Later." Credit: Peter Mountain / Dna / 20th Century Fox / Kobal / Shutterstock

Boyle and Garland revitalized the zombie genre with 2002's 28 Days Later, a film that throws us headfirst into a brutal world that's just 28 days into the apocalypse.

The apocalyptic culprits here are humans infected with the "rage virus," which turns its victims into mindlessly violent — and scarily speedy — attackers. (Though not the first film to feature fast zombies, 28 Days Later is certainly the movie that popularized them.) While the nameless Infected hordes provide many terrifying scares and some effective body horror, especially in the film's "turning" scenes, it's 28 Days Later's human drama that invokes the most fear. 

From the moment bike courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) wanders across a deserted Westminster Bridge, we're forced to consider how we'd react in the face of the apocalypse. Some of the survivors Jim encounters offer him kindness, while others, like army officers in the film's stomach-churning third act, have far more sinister, self-serving plans for the future. Blurring the lines between human and monster, and boasting some of the zombie genre's most iconic imagery, there's no doubt 28 Days Later is among Garland's best work. 

How to watch: 28 Days Later is currently unavailable on streaming.

2. Annihilation Natalie Portman in "Annihilation." Credit: Paramount / Moviestore / Shutterstock

Ever since I first watched the trailer for Annihilation and heard that foreboding horn-like sound, I knew this movie would stick with me. I just didn't realize how much.

Loosely based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation is the captivating story of a team of scientists investigating a phenomenon known as the Shimmer. Named after its psychedelic, bubble-like boundaries, the Shimmer is a slowly expanding zone of strangeness originating from a meteor strike. Biologist Lena's (Natalie Portman) husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) is the only person to return from the many expeditions already sent into the Shimmer, but he's a shell of his former self. Now it's up to Lena and her own survey team (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Tuva Novotny) to try to get answers.

SEE ALSO: If you liked the 'Annihilation' movie, you absolutely NEED to read the book

What they find in the Shimmer is less a series of answers and more a parade of mutated wildlife. A bear that utters human screams! An alligator with shark teeth! Humanoid figures made up of flowers! But that's just the start of Annihilation's cosmic horror, which pushes Lena to a brilliant, brutal breaking point. There, Annihilation forces her to reckon with the vastness of the unknown and her past mistakes, making for a film that is both unfathomably strange and still surprisingly personal.

How to watch: Annihilation is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, or Apple TV+.

1. Ex Machina Alicia Vikander in "Ex Machina." Credit: Dna / Film4 / Kobal / Shutterstock

This is it. This is the big one. And what else could it be but Ex Machina?

Garland's directorial debut is a perfect storm of sci-fi, a dark technological fairy tale, and a taut chamber piece all rolled into one. In it, we meet programmer Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), who's won a contest to spend a week with reclusive tech genius Nathan (Oscar Isaac). Nathan reveals that this is no ordinary vacation: Caleb will be performing the Turing test on Nathan's latest humanoid AI, Ava (Alicia Vikander), in an attempt to determine whether she is capable of human thought, even with the knowledge that she is an artificial intelligence.

What follows is a maze of a movie, one where Caleb comes to question his own reality — and the audience along with him. Between ever-relevant conversations about AI, consciousness, and the ways in which humans take advantage of each other and our own creations, Ex Machina also proves to be a visual treat. The glassy corridors of Nathan's house ensnare us in his isolated web, while Ava's stunningly realized robotic inner workings earned the film an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. As if all that wasn't enough, that pivotal dance scene between Nathan and Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno) is so funky and so unsettling that it would shoot Ex Machina straight to the top of this ranking even if the rest of the film was just fine. Luckily, it's excellent (and yes, so are Isaac and Mizuno's dance moves).

How to watch: Ex Machina is now streaming on Max.

TL;DR: Through April 16, this All-in-One Dog and Puppy Training bundle is price dropped to $23.20 (reg. $390) with code ENJOY20.

The thought of training a new dog or puppy can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be. The 2023 All-in-One Dog and Puppy Training bundle offers 10 courses and over 10 hours of content and gives you a step-by-step guide to training a canine of any age. The lectures offer tools from basic to advanced commands, so you can go at your furry friend's pace. Through April 16, you can get this course bundle for $23.20 (reg. $390) with code ENJOY20.

Lessons are taught by a variety of professionals including veterinarians, animal behaviorists, nutritionists, groomers, and wildlife experts. All courses are accredited by the International Council for Online Educational Standards (ICOES) and are designed to support pet owners, pet care workers, pet sitters, and more. 

Included in this bundle are the following courses:  

• Puppy and New Dog Training

• Accredited Dog Walking Course

• Dog Commands for Beginners

• Dog Training Essentials

• Moderating Dog Behavior

• Become a Doggy Dessert Chef [Recipes Only]

• Dog Socialization & Obedience Master Class [Modules Only]

• Dog Walking Basics [Modules Only]

• Reward-Based Dog Training [Modules Only]

• Ultimate Guide to Dog Grooming [Modules Only]

Just like humans, most pets crave routine and discipline, and the 2023 All-In-One Dog and Puppy Training bundle is a good place to start. This training program is designed to help you and your dog better understand one another. 

Get the 2023 All-in-One Dog and Puppy training bundle for only $23.20 (reg. $390) with code ENJOY20 through April 16 at 11:59 p.m. PT. 

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Holly & Hugo The 2023 All-In-One Dog & Puppy Training Bundle $23.20 at the Mashable Shop
$390.00 Save $366.80 with code ENJOY20 Get Deal

 

TL;DR: Through April 16, grab this top-rated GOLFBUDDY W10 golf watch on sale for $119.99 with the code ENJOY20.

At long last, spring has finally arrived, ushering in a much-anticipated golf season. It also means that the Masters Tournament is right around the corner. If you haven't dusted off your clubs in a while, you may want to consider upgrading your gear, too.

Instead of a brand-new pair of golf shoes, have a look at the GOLFBUDDY Aim W10 GPS golf watch. Through April 16, coinciding with Masters week, you can grab one on sale for an extra 20% off with the code ENJOY20 at checkout.

The W10 by GOLFBUDDY is designed to help you bring your A-game each time you hit the fairways. Touted for its ease of use and precision, it's designed to deliver accurate distance measurements, with its 1.3-inch LCD color touchscreen display that doles out distance calculations to the front, center, and back of the green, along with how far you are from targets and hazards.

The GPS allows this watch to recognize your current hole, but on the off chance that it doesn't, you can perform manual placement. It also features a zoom-in and zoom-out function built to offer a more comprehensive view of the green, a digital scorecard, and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that lasts up to 13 hours on a single charge.

The watch comes pre-loaded with 40,000 golf courses across 170 countries, which can be updated via the accompanying GOLFBUDDY app. It also includes slope technology and offers the ability to cast yardage on your mobile device.

The W10 by GOLFBUDDY watch normally retails for $209, but you can grab it for only $119.99 through April 16 at 11:59 p.m. PT with code ENJOY20.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Golf Buddy GOLFBUDDY Aim W10 GPS Golf Watch $119.99 at the Mashable Shop
$209.99 Save $90.00 with the code ENJOY20 Get Deal

TL;DR: Through April 16, you can get your hands on this alternative Apple TV remote on sale for an extra 20% off with the code ENJOY20.

The Apple TV is arguably one of the best streaming devices on the market, but quite a few users feel the accompanying remote leaves a lot to be desired. In pursuit of minimalism, Apple has done away with traditional buttons in favor of a singular one that might be hard to know what to do with.

If you want the tactile feel of a traditional remote, or at least an alternative option for when your current Apple TV remote slips between the couch cushions, consider the Function101 Button Remote, on sale for an extra 20% off through April 16 with the code ENJOY20.

We'll preface this by pointing out that this remote doesn't have the Siri function and cannot carry out voice commands, but its buttons let you operate your Apple TV. Whether you have the Apple TV 4K or the older versions, it's designed to work all the same. The buttons include navigation arrows, mute, fast forward, rewind, pause/play, stop, menu, and everyone's favorite, OK.

Check it out: With support for infrared technology, you can synchronize the remote control not just with your TV, but with your soundbar and receiver as well. It also has a range of up to 12 meters (that's nearly 40 feet). And it comes with a one-year warranty.

Get an Apple TV remote alternative. The Function101 button remote usually goes for $29, but it's on sale for $23.99 with the code ENJOY20 through April 16 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Fuction101 Function101 Button Remote for Apple TV/Apple TV 4K $23.99 at the Mashable Shop
$29.99 Save $6.00 with code ENJOY20 Get Deal

TL;DR: Through April 16, you can grab this smokeless Aroma indoor electric grill and griddle for $50.39 with the code ENJOY20.

Maximizing the sunshine and getting outside as often as possible is a no-brainer for most of us now that spring is here, but sometimes, having back-to-back BBQs can get pretty old. If you want to lay low for a while but still want the unique flavors grilling produces, consider this a sign to make an indoor grill your next culinary investment.

The Aroma indoor grill and griddle is designed to replicate the outdoor grilling experience inside your home. Through April 16, you can score it on sale for nearly $80 off with the code ENJOY20.

This grill comes equipped with a removable tempered glass lid to promote even cooking and heat retention, a non-stick dual-surface grill and griddle plate for grilling and griddling simultaneously, and an adjustable temperature control dial that reaches up to 425 degrees in temperature. On the flip side, you can turn it to the lowest temperature when cooking is finished so you can keep the dish warm.

The 2-in-1 design allows you to grill and griddle food at the same time, and if you're worried about making a mess, there's an included removable XL grease tray that fits underneath. And all of the non-electric parts are made dishwasher safe.

Bring the grilling flavors indoors with this indoor electric grill and griddle from Aroma. It usually retails for $129, but you can score it on sale for only $50.39 through April 16 at 11:59 p.m. PT with the code ENJOY20 at checkout.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Aroma Housewares Aroma Housewares Smokeless Indoor Use Electric Grill/Griddle $50.39 at the Mashable Shop
$129.99 Save $79.60 with code ENJOY20 Get Deal

"What you tripping for? We got no supervision for months. We finna live like white kids," says one of the teens in BET+'s Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead. 

This Tyra Banks–produced remake of the 1991 cult classic of the same name offers a Black cast repositioning of the suburban coming-of-age teenage comedy that has prototypically been the domain of precocious white characters. Though director Wade Allain-Marcus (Grown-ish) dutifully attempts to keep the beats of the original narrative intact, he is also retooling parts of the film through a contemporary racial sociopolitical lens. It's an admirable attempt not to take the easy route, but the film ultimately needed to be more radically different than its predecessor.   

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead is the kind of remake that wants to have its cake and eat it too, leaving the viewer terribly malnourished. 

What's Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead about? June Squibb plays the heinous and hilarious Mrs. Shrak. Credit: BET+

High-school senior and the oldest of four siblings, Tanya Crandell (Bel-Air's Simone Joy Jones) is planning to travel to Valencia, Spain, with her friends for the summer before beginning her fashion education at Howard University. Her dreams are dashed when her burned-out mother (Patricia "Ms. Pat" Williams) departs for a mandated yoga retreat in Thailand. The determined Tanya believes she'll be left to care for her oddball siblings: her eldest, stoner brother, Kenny (Donielle Tremaine Hansley); her nerdy younger brother, Zach (Carter Young); and her goth younger sister, Melissa (Ayaamii Sledge). But much to her dismay, an elderly babysitter — Ms. Shrak (Thelma's June Squibb) — is hired. 

Squibb is a burst of energy as the racist grandmotherly figure, spouting outlandish quips like "Makeup is for geisha whores," "Surprises are for kids’ parties and the Japanese," and "Hip-hop ruined the Blacks." Squibb is so good in this role, you're left wishing the film won’t follow the promise of its premise. Unfortunately, it does. The morning after a late-night party thrown by Tanya and Kenny, the kids discover Ms. Shrak's lifeless body. They dispose of her without much trouble. Their bigger task becomes figuring out how to earn enough money for food. Initially, Tanya takes a rideshare job, leading to a meet-cute with hopeful architecture student Bryan (Bottoms' Miles Fowler). 

Of course, rideshare alone isn't going to pay the bills (it's one of the many winking nods the film makes to the ills of the modern economy). Using a résumé ginned up by Melissa, 17-year-old Tanya applies to be a receptionist at Libra — a monochromatic clothing line that values a balance between pretty and practical. Tanya's exceptional, made-up job history is enough to catch the eye of the company's executive Rose Lindsey (Nicole Richie). Tanya becomes her assistant, forcing the teen to abruptly navigate the demands of adulthood.      

The kids are alright in Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead. Simone Joy Jones and Donielle Tremaine Hansley as Tanya and Kenny. Credit: BET+

Unlike the 1991 version, Allain-Marcus isn't wholly interested in corporate workplace dynamics. Rose's boyfriend, Gus (The Blackening's Jermaine Fowler), for instance, a lecherous fiend who preyed on Christina Applegate's underaged character in the previous film, doesn't have the same carnal desires for Tanya. In this version, he's merely a hapless philandering dweeb. Caroline (This is Us's Iantha Richardson), the office rival to Tanya, isn't an imposing threat, either. 

Screenwriter Chuck Hayward's script shuns any interest in examining the power imbalance in Gus and Rose’s interracial relationship. Likewise, he ignores the fact that Caroline, a Black woman, is often characterized by Rose as too aggressive. These under-developments are odd swerves for a comedy intent on making joking reference to sweatshops, OnlyFans, and other disparities in the gig economy. 

Instead, Allain-Marcus is far more interested in this family's frigid interpersonal dynamics. Kenny, for instance, isn't a total stoner, as he was in the original. Before their father died, he was on the lacrosse team. Now, he smokes weed and wears grills. But there is a talented, thoughtful kid there. Falling into the trap of the desire to broadly represent Black Excellence, Allain-Marcus isn't content to characterize Kenny as a ne'er-do-well. Rather, Kenny's arc depicts a rebellious kid returning to normalcy and respectability. Through accepting responsibility, he and Tanya grow closer as brother and sister. That angle diverts attention from the film's many other threads, making them feel thin. And while Jones and Hansley perform admirably — working through an easygoing dynamic that engenders some laughs — Allain-Marcus doesn't do enough to make them characters in their own right; instead, they're ciphers standing in for his focus on aspects of style, post-soul cool, and Black excellence.

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead requires supervision.  Nicole Richie as Rose. Credit: BET+

The coming-of-age comedy ends up just so-so, mostly because the narrative beats of the first film are so inherently strong. We want to see Tanya succeeding in her career. We want to see her pull one over on these nefarious adults. We want to see her find love. 

This version tries to keep those components while adding new beats, like Tanya learning to be a better sister to her siblings. In trying to balance both aims, the themes are stretched woefully thin. Even the relationship between Bryan and Tanya is underwritten. The economic tension of the earlier film — with Applegate as an executive and an aimless Josh Charles working at the fast food joint Clown Dog — evaporates, as Bryan is now a driven architecture student. The same goes for the strain of Bryan being Caroline's younger brother, which is rendered lax due to Caroline and Tanya's now-toothless rivalry. 

There is simply a more efficient way to tell this story that already exists, and it was done in 1991. The new version's added wrinkles do little to bring this cult classic to a younger audience, to the point you wish Allain-Marcus showed even less fidelity to the original and cut the characters he never really intended to use, like Gus and Caroline. Considering how strong Squibb is here, you also wish she stayed around longer so the film could play with the third-rail comedy she was providing. 

In the end, this cult comedy remake feels all too safe. From its macabre yet madcap inciting incident to its fashion-show finale, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead feels firmly fitted for nostalgic adults rather than defiant teens.    

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead opens in theaters April 12.

Let's face it: geeks wear their hearts on their sleeves. We have no problem diving headfirst into our passions and expressing ourselves wholeheartedly. But when it comes to dating, finding someone who respects that enthusiasm can feel like cracking an impossible code.

For women, it can involve a lot of creepy guys who are chasing their manic pixie dream girl. For men, it's a constant dance to avoid being labeled "that guy." And if you're in the majority of geeks who are a little bit introverted, dating can be more than a little intimidating.

SEE ALSO: The 13 best dating apps for lasting connections or casual fun Are there dating sites for geeks?

Yes, there are a handful of niche dating sites designed specifically for nerds, but you may not need them.

We compared the internet's top dating sites, trendy swiping apps, and geek-specific platforms to find the ones where proud nerds can express themselves and find that twin flame. Hidden among millions and millions of users, you could find someone who shares your most obscure passions and interests, whether it's an endless debate about whether there will ever be a Pokémon game as good as Pokémon Emerald or the perfect couple's cosplay inspired by your favorite Star Trek characters. Bonus: they're all readily accessible via the App Store and the Google Play Store.

Just remember this: Even if a potential match doesn't share your specific hobby or interest, they could still be the right partner for you. Don't fall for this common geek relationship fallacy. What's more important is that they respect your most nerdy obsessions, and vice versa.

You'll notice that we no longer include any geek-specific sites (e.g., Soul Geek, Gamer Dating, Dating for Muggles) in our recommendations because we found these niche dating sites to be out-of-date — you can find more info on this decision in our 'How we tested' section below.

Here are our top picks for the best dating sites for geeks, nerds, and anyone passionate about their niche hobbies:

Activate those Pip-Boys, Vault Dwellers!

The beloved post-apocalyptic game franchise Fallout has received the TV treatment from Prime Video, and the series wisely integrates tons of game details along the way.

Co-showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner, alongside executive producers Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan (Westworld), have successfully translated the aesthetic, narrative, and sprawling gadget inventory of the Fallout games into a "wild nuclear Western," as Mashable's Belen Edwards dubs it. Wastelanders who've spent time in the Fallout universe might recognise the minute game details embedded in the show itself, but Vault Dwellers who haven't played the games (yet) might need a little help sorting their stimpaks from their Sugar Bombs. 

SEE ALSO: The best 'Fallout' games to play after watching Prime Video's TV series

Of course, as a modern TV game adaptation, it's inevitable viewers may compare the series to HBO's The Last of Us, arguably one of the best game adaptations of all time, and how elements of the Naughty Dog game shone through every frame. Luckily, Fallout doesn't scrimp on the details. From its "Please stand by" screens to its Nuka-Cola vending machines, Fallout finds its own way to bring the signature characteristics of the games to TV. It embraces the games' post-apocalyptic retro-futurism and wonderfully incorporates all those weird weapons, mammoth armor, crucial companions, irradiated enemies, and of course, swingin' tunes. 

Here's a handy guide to the more niche bits and pieces the Fallout show emulates from the games, which began way back in 1997 at Interplay Entertainment.

Fallout includes a handful of specific game locations. This image is from the "Fallout" series, but it very well could be from a game. Credit: Prime Video

The Fallout TV series covers a lot of ground within the so-called New California Republic (NCR), a post-apocalyptic land featured in multiple Fallout games. Within this map, there's plenty of locations visited by Lucy (Ella Purnell), Maximus (Aaron Moten), and Cooper Howard/The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) that aren't the show's main settings.

Across the series, the characters come across the games' famous Red Rocket gas stations and crumbling Super Duper Marts, Vault-Tec's Hawthorne Medical Laboratories, and a ramshackle town that could be found in pretty much any of the Fallout games — Megaton, Rivet City, New Reno, Diamond City, take your pick. Shady Sands itself, a neighbourhood featured in the very first Fallout game, plays a massive role in the TV series.

You'll spot a Red Rocket in the series, seen here in "Fallout 4." Credit: Bethesda Game Studios

In the final episode, there's also a nod to the games' obsession with pirate radio stations, with a rogue broadcaster (Fred Armisen, in a delightful cameo) paying homage to Fallout stations like Galaxy News Radio (GNR), hosted by the legendary Three Dog (Fallout 3), Diamond City Radio (Fallout 4), and Mojave Music Radio (Fallout: New Vegas).

Fallout brings the weapons, armor, and gadgets of the game to life. It's reeeeal. Credit: JoJo Whilden / Prime Video

If there's one thing the Fallout series really attempts to stick like glue to, it's the weapons and armor of the games. Of course, your weapons often get pretty banged up in Fallout games and repairing them is a constant necessity, as well as a way to level up and use all of the junk you've been collecting. In the series, Maximus needs to have his suit repaired in the marketplace for caps in episode 3, which he gets for selling his own teeth. In the game, you do not have to do this.

While the series doesn't use the games' signature V.A.T.S. system — Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, which allows players to maximise their aim — it does right by the core components, including Pip-Boys and power armor.

Pip-Boys Lucy's brother Norm (Moisés Arias) has a Pip-Boy, just like the rest of Vault 33. Credit: JoJo Whilden / Prime Video

First, you'll find the franchise's signature Pip-Boy on the wrist of every Vault Dweller, which is a handy wearable computer that the show replicates in extreme detail. The device shows a wearer's statistics, inventory, data, map, and the radio; it can also scan for "rads" or radiation levels, and it enables navigation. Lucy's Pip-Boy is invaluable to her as a map; she punches in coordinates from Ma June (Dale Dickey) in episode 2 and uses it to track down a certain item, much as you would in the game. Every time you hear the sound of a Geiger counter in the show, that's her Pip-Boy scanning for rads. Plus, it's a handy torch in episode 6. Additionally, Lucy's brother Norm (Moisés Arias) looks at photos on his Pip-Boy, just as you can store notes on them in the game. Neat!

If you look closely, the show's Pip-Boys also feature the game's ubiquitous Vault Boy, the overtly chipper animated figure devised as a branding mascot by Vault-Tec.

T-60 armor Aaron Moten as Maximus in "Fallout" beside his soon-to-be power armor. Credit: JoJo Whilden / Prime Video

That super chonky armor favoured by the Brotherhood of Steel? That's right out of Fallout 4; it's an evolution of the T-45 power armor. You'll first get up close with the armor in episode 1, as Maximus (Aaron Moten) and his Brotherhood recruit pal take a peek when a group of knights, who are allowed to wear and operate these massive suits, visit the barracks. Recruited as a squire to assist Knight Titus (Michael Rapaport), Maximus learns, "You earn the suit for an act of bravery." In game, you can buy them, steal them, or earn them by joining the Brotherhood. In the series, you can see the health of the armor appearing in Maximus' vision, and the show also makes several narrative moments out of the suits being powered by a fusion core, which you need to procure in the games.

Most effectively, the show really captures the lumbering weight and limited mobility of the armor; in both the games and the show, it's awful in hand-to-hand combat but great for battling mutant beasts. A cool Easter egg? Twice, characters remark on the "tempered lining" of the armor, which is a type of mod in the games.

The T-60 power armor ready to go in the game "Fallout 4." Credit: Bethesda Game Studios Junk Jets

There's a fair few weapons used throughout the Fallout TV series, from automatic turrets to miniguns. One of the more novelty weapons, the Junk Jet from Fallout 4, uses just about anything as ammunition; it's similar to Fallout 3's Rock-It Launcher. In episode 1, you'll see a raider fire a plastic baby doll's arm through a man's chest using one, and Lucy sees one for sale in Ma June's shop in episode 2. Horrific, but practical.

Fallout relies on aid just as much as you do in the game. Stock up on aid supplies at shop's like Ma June's. Credit: JoJo Whilden / Prime Video

If there's one thing that has quite the prominence in the Fallout series, it's aid items — both organic and chemical. You literally cannot get enough of them (if you play games as badly as me), and the characters in the series constantly need to patch themselves up and fuel their hunger with pre-blast canned goods. Here's what's in the show:

Food

The Fallout franchise's love of an Atomic Age food item made for nuclear blast vaults is on constant display throughout the series. Mysterious scientist Siggi Wilzig (Michael Emerson) eats a can of Cram in episode 2; Lucy eats YumYum Deviled Eggs in episode 3; and there's many a scene filled with Sugar Bombs, Insta-Mash, and of course, the omnipresent Nuka-Cola. All of these are health items from the game.

Purified water, which is a valuable means of aid in the game, means just as much in the series. Lucy is tempted by radiation-filled water in episode 3, after Cooper doesn't give her any of his clean water to drink; she gets radiation poisoning that's only curable by the drug RadAway, which is also a crucial in-game item. Luckily, Maximus offers her some in episode 5.

But pre-blast, pre-packaged food isn't the only thing on offer in Fallout — you'll spot a market hawker selling crispy iguana sticks in episode 2, a Wasteland delicacy from the games.

Drugs

Across the series, you'll notice characters keep injecting all kinds of shit into themselves, which is exactly what you do in the Fallout games. A raider uses Jet, a chemical stimulant, in episode 1, and characters constantly use injections called "stimpaks" to nurse others back to health across the episodes. Having experienced extreme radiation effects, Cooper takes a serious amount of Jet through inhalers, including the series' only scene that emulates the game's constant looting action; in episode 4, after the ordeal in the Super Duper Mart, Cooper goes to absolute town on the various aid items left lying around. If you've ever played Fallout, watching this scene is deeply relatable, but it would absolutely result in addiction. (Yes, you can get addicted to chems in the games!)

Fallout includes a cute nod to the game's skill tree and character customisation. You can't tell me that's not the "Domestic Goddess" hairstyle. Credit: JoJo Whilden / Prime Video

In the Fallout games, you build up your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck) attributes across a huge array of skills depending on how you want to play the game. In the opening of episode 1, there's a sweet nod to this skill tree system, when Lucy details her skills — repair, science, speech, gymnastics, fencing, and riflery — to the board, some of which Fallout players will recognise as skills to earn in the games.

In another cute nod to the game's signature character-builder, the Fallout series hair and makeup team have included one of the most recognisable hairstyles you can pick for your character in the game: the terribly named "Domestic Goddess." A '50s-style bob, it's worn by Vault 33 resident Stephanie Harper (Annabel O’Hagan). And in episode 2, when Lucy arrives at the marketplace that resembles many a town in the Fallout series, you can spy various businesses — one of which is a barber. In the game, this is where you can change up your appearance.

Fallout appreciates the value of a companion. It's no fun traversing the Wasteland alone. Credit: JoJo Whilden / Prime Video

In the Fallout games, you're often presented with opportunities to recruit companions to join you on your travels across the Wasteland. They're always a good idea, as you'll often find yourself outnumbered. Each one offers different perks, adventures, and special items to unlock.

In the TV series, companions are equally important. One of the very best from the game is a dog named CX404, a title which has been changed from the game's Dogmeat. (There's a few references to Dogmeat in the show, including a terrible hawker stall and Cooper referring to the dog as such in a later episode).

Another companion from the games comes in the form of a Mister Handy robot butler, who is voiced to perfection by Matt Berry in the series. There are plenty of generic Mister Handy robots across the game series, but in Fallout 4, you can invite a Mister Handy robot named Codsworth along as a companion. In the series finale, we find out that Berry's human character is named Bartholomew Cogsworth, a fun nod to the game.

Fallout's enemies are straight out of the game. There are Ghouls, and then there are Feral Ghouls. Credit: JoJo Whilden / Prime Video

If there's one thing Fallout isn't short of in either medium, it's enemies. Whether it be Raiders (gangs of outlaws), Fiends (cannibals), or mutant bears, Lucy, Maximus, and Cooper have their work cut out for them.

Creature-wise, there's plenty of threatening animals throughout the episodes. In episode 2, you'll spy a Radroach (an irradiated cockroach), and Maximus battles a mutant bear known as a Yao Guai. In episode 3, Cooper uses Lucy as bait to lure what appears to be a pink and spiky type of anglerfish. Plus, not all Ghouls are chill gunslingers like Cooper; in episode 4, Lucy comes face to face with what's known in the games as "Feral Ghouls" — basically, zombie versions of the mutated humans.

One type of common foe missing from the Fallout TV series? The game's fierce Super Mutants, which are difficult to fight but nearly everywhere in the game franchise; you can spot one for a second on a "Wanted!" poster in episode 6. Perhaps Lucy, Maximus, and Cooper might come across these tough opponents in Season 2?

Super Mutants in "Fallout 3" — nowhere in the series though. Credit: Bethesda Game Studios

Wastelanders, I hope all of this gives you more of a brutally chewed-up leg to stand on while you're watching the series. Now you know your Pip-Boys from your Junk Jets, your Fiends from your Yao Guai. Including this level of detail is what we've come to expect from video game screen adaptations these days, with fans like myself spending every frame searching for Easter eggs and references that bolster the authenticity of the show. And if anything, it's this level of detail that makes me want to play the games all over again.

All episodes of Fallout are now streaming on Prime Video.

If you've made it through the murderous Mister Handy robot butlers, mutant marine creatures, and major truth bombs of Prime Video's Fallout series, chances are you've seen a major hint at what's coming for Season 2 in the finale.

In the eighth and final episode of the TV adaptation of Bethesda's best-selling Fallout game franchise, created by Westworld's Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, there's an overt clue as to the location of the next installment, and it all comes down to fan favourite game Fallout: New Vegas.

Obviously, we're talking Fallout's season finale here, so the spoiler Rad count is high ahead. No amount of Rad-X will save you.

SEE ALSO: 'Fallout' review: Video game adaptation is a wild nuclear Western

In the Fallout finale, when the truth about Lucy MacLean's (Ella Purnell) finally-found dad Hank (Kyle MacLachlan) and his involvement in the nuclear destruction of California has been revealed, he escapes the Griffith Observatory wearing T-60 power armour stolen from Maximus (Aaron Moten). Cooper Howard/The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) tells Lucy her father is probably headed to the unnamed person in charge. At the very end of the episode, we see Hank stumbling toward a city in the middle of the desert. Where could you happily walk from Los Angeles in such a suit? It's none other than the dilapidated city of Las Vegas, with the unmistakable spire of The Strat tower jutting out of the skyline. But it's not Vegas as we know it.

Fans of the Fallout games will recognise this location instantly as the setting of the critically lauded Fallout game, Fallout: New Vegas, possibly hinting at the location of the second season of the Prime Video series.

If you didn't get the reference with the final shot, the end credits confirm the clue. The Fallout end credits up until this point have shown various Los Angeles–based locations in the New California Republic (NCR), from LAX to the Hollywood sign. But in the finale's ending credits, we soar along the New Vegas Strip, past a billboard advertising The Tops Hotel and Casino, and the camera zooms past the Lucky 38 casino — two key locations in New Vegas — before ending on a sign quite literally reading "Welcome to fabulous New Vegas."

Considered one of the best Fallout games, it was released by Bethesda and Obsidian in 2020, and set between Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, taking place across Arizona, Nevada, and California. In the game, you play a character known simply as a Courier, whose perilous, resurrection-dotted journey takes you across the Mojave Desert to the titular city — a complete and utter shell of Las Vegas rebuilt post-apocalypse — where factions war for control of New Vegas and the surrounding wasteland. 

The Fallout series bases its character arcs on general storylines from the Fallout game series, so it's possible the series will introduce the Courier to the likes of Lucy, Maximus, and Cooper in the second season, unless they eliminate the character and put our protagonists on their path instead.

All episodes of Fallout are now streaming on Prime Video.

Alex Garland has made his mark on cinema combining thrilling genre setups with social commentary, ranging from the epic Ex Machina to the bewildering Annihilation and the underwhelming Men. In his latest, the English writer/director wags his finger at America, warning us of the dangers of autocracy with Civil War.

If you watched the first trailer and wondered what had caused California and Texas to not only secede but also join forces against the U.S. government, Civil War will offer no answer. The details of why the war began are sprinkled in among dialogue about a president who refuses to speak to the press and has bombed American civilians. The why of the war is not the point, and as such Garland keeps politics out of it. (Perhaps that also helps avoid polarizing could-be movie-goers?) 

In Civil War, there's not talk of red or white, Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal. And to a point, that is compelling, as it instead urges audiences to focus on how an us-versus-them mentality can be as nebulous as it is dangerous. However, as was true in Men, Garland's epiphany feels shallow, as if delivered from an outsider looking in. 

Civil War takes its cues from Children of Men.  Credit: A24

The specifics of these films' conceits vary, but the core of their story is the same: In a world where widespread disaster is imminent, a hardened cynic is given fresh cause for hope in a dangerous quest to preserve something sacred. 

In Alfonso Cuarón's thrice Oscar-nominated dystopian thriller, the hero is a former political activist (Clive Owen) who has to overcome his world-weariness to protect a miraculously pregnant woman in a world gone infertile. In Civil War, Kirsten Dunst stars as Lee, a war photojournalist who has grown cold as a coping mechanism from witnessing the worst of humanity. While her homeland is ripping itself to pieces, she and a journalist named Joel (Wagner Moura) are plotting a course from a scorched Manhattan to the White House. There, they hope to interview and photograph the embattled president (Nick Offerman) before the Capitol falls. 

While this trip would typically be a commute of a few hours, devastation on major highways pushes them into small towns and not-so-cozy corners of America, where violence and ignorance are prized above any sense of unity. But Lee and Joel are not alone on this quest; they're accompanied by Sammy (Lady Bird's Stephen McKinley Henderson), a veteran reporter who may be older and out of shape but still has fight in him, and Jessie (Priscilla's Cailee Spaeny), an aspiring photojournalist who idolizes Lee. Together, they set forth on a road trip pitted by gunfire, cruelty, and a jarring shopping detour. 

Each stop functions as a vignette in which Garland exposes a corner of American wrath, wrong-headed self-righteousness, or apathy. And like with Children of Men, where the quest is born from ideology — in this case, Lee's dedication to journalism — it becomes achingly personal. Seeing a bit of herself in Jessie, Lee takes risks to protect the young woman, even as she laments that their work demands putting themselves in harm's way. 

Civil War has echoes of a Western. 

This structure is the stuff of the gunslinger who lives on the fringe of society, often because of his vocation's proximity to violence. But when the civilized world needs a hero, the gunslinger is uniquely skilled to pull the shot that could change things for the better. Here, that shot could come from Lee's camera. Though she is often amid soldiers and gunfire, on her hip is that camera, its lens focused unblinkingly onto America. 

Dunst is sensational in the role, which could have felt stiff in the hands of a lesser actor. But boiling beneath Lee's stoic facade is a war of regret, rage, and worry, released only in the occasional flash of her eyes at the naive and too gung-ho Jessie. Spaeny proves a solid scene partner, charged with an energy that wavers from enthusiastic to anxious and back again like a puppy or a hotshot duelist (Think Leonardo DiCaprio in The Quick and the Dead). For his part, Moura has the swagger of a shiny-badged deputy who feels untouchable because of his mission. Henderson provides balance as a grandfatherly figure, carrying worry and warmth in equal measure.

There are black hats here too, the most terrifying of them played by Dunst's real-life partner, Jesse Plemons. Wearing fatigues, a snarl, and an incongruent pair of pink, heart-shaped sunglasses, he delivers a line that hits hard in the trailer: "What kind of American are you?" It's a trap of a question, and everyone faced with it is all too aware. This place, a vague stretch between NYC and Washington, D.C., is the new Wild West, where the rules are made by whoever's got the quickest draw. 

All of this leads to a catastrophic climax in D.C. that is sprawling and spectacular, throwing unarmed journalists into the thick of the action. Here, like in Men, Garland has his audience caught up in the tension and life-or-death stakes. But even as the final shot is sharply executed, the film overall lacks focus. 

Civil War is undermined by its dearth of specificity. 

When it comes to structure, Garland has smartly leaned on the tried-and-true framework of a cynical protagonist transformed by a quest to preserve an innocent. But Garland's depiction of America is achingly generic.

A sequence in a gas station manned by gun-toting rednecks, a perfectly unruffled small town with gleaming white exteriors, a ugly office park shot up by warring factions — these are all settings found along their road trip, but none feel specific to a place. All feel like an idea of America that doesn't recognize the cultural differences not only state to state but even town to town. These spaces are physically diverse from each other but not distinctive in a way that might allow Americans to recognize them as real. Their inhabitants rarely have accents, which is a dizzying choice considering the journalists' route takes them through Western Pennsylvania and presumably Maryland, both places with pronounced and distinctive accents. Their clothes range from casual to resort wear, prim florals to military gear, but their outfits rarely connote a sense of place. And so the film often feels ungrounded, lost in a gesture at America rather than a ruthlessly authentic portrait someone like Lee would capture.  

One exception takes place in a firefight between a pair of men in fatigues and an unseen shooter from a far-off farm house. Lee and her crew crouch near the would-be soldiers, who are hiding in a sprawling Christmas display of lawn ornaments, all battered and sun-scorched in the summer heat. Though the gunman hidden in the house will never be seen, the decorations outside their home gives a strong sense of who they are and were. This winter wonderland once welcomed visitors, but the decay of this festive spectacle reflects the gunman's shift from friendly to territorial. The once-proud display has been warped into a grisly carnival game where the goal is to pick off the intruders. And the feeling is mutual. While Joel begs the shooters for information on who's fighting who, they roll their eyes between fired rounds. That's beside the point when someone's aiming a gun at you. Your options are fight, flight, or roll up and die. 

That's an engaging insight for one sequence. But as the film lurches from one vignette to another with unwieldy pacing, there's little sense of progress in the journey because of all the details Garland willfully ignores. Not just the politics, but the cultural flourishes that set states apart, the accents that speak swiftly to background, the slang that sings of commonality or culture clash. 

Perhaps all this ambiguity was intentional. Maybe Garland was trying to show Americans have much more in common than they realize, for better or for worse. But the effect of flattening America into cliched depictions of big cities, small towns, and rural offshoots suggests he doesn't understand this nation well enough to be making such grand statements about its future.

With Ex Machina, Garland lured audiences into an intriguing and isolated realm of robotic splendor and human hubris. Keeping the film brutally focused on its core space and its handful of characters, he built the perfect setting to explore toxic masculinity and the flaws in a white knight narrative. With Men, the pull of its harried heroine was darkly enchanting, presenting the overwhelming terror inherent in rape culture through a town entirely peopled by the same man in different roles, all of them bent toward some form of domineering menace. But from there, he added nothing new or all that thought-provoking about the experience of women in a man's world.

And now, with Civil War, Garland goes much, much bigger, aiming a critical lens at not just an idea like misogyny or grief but an entire nation and its history. Along the way, he shovels in a slew of characters, and ends up losing the trees for the forest. Pulled back so wide, this thought-provoking filmmaker's argument is lost amid his muddy portrayal of a nation that is no stranger to internal conflict, buried beneath the nuances and details he papers over with a smug indignation. 

Civil War was reviewed out of SXSW 2024. The film was released in theaters April 12.

Have you ever listened to a song and effectively time traveled? Maybe it's a slow jam that takes you back to a grade school dance, where putting your arms around your crush's shoulders felt like the most thrilling thing in the world. Maybe it's a rock song that transports you to your first real concert, the smell of sweat in the press of strangers' bodies as dizzying as the music itself.  Maybe it's a song that takes you back to that car and that night and that kiss.

The Greatest Hits takes this concept literally. Following a tragic accident that took the life of her boyfriend Max (David Corenswet), Harriet (Lucy Boynton) suffers from a strange condition, in which listening to certain sounds pitches her back into her own past for as long as the music plays. Using these jams to search up and down the timeline of their relationship, she desperately seeks the opportunity to change his fate. If she can just convince him not to take that particular road, could she save his life?

Time travel and romance are recurring bedfellows, as seen in everything from The Time Traveler's Wife to Doctor Who to About Time to Groundhog Day. In these narratives, the threat of making the same mistake over and over again can result in bittersweet endings. Writer/director Ned Benson's The Greatest Hits, for better or worse, is not going as deep as any of these properties. Instead, he takes a concept that is emotionally fraught and drives it into the ground with tedious romantic-comedy cliches.   

The Greatest Hits kills a compelling concept with a rote romance. 

Harriet is introduced as a heartbroken hermit, shuffling about in the ruins of her life without her boyfriend. Their small apartment has become a sulky shrine to his memory, complete with vinyl albums of their songs, his old chair, his dog, a photo of the couple together, and a self-help book she definitely hasn't opened. 

Besieged by grief, Harriet uses her condition as an excuse not to move on. As any song on the radio or out in the wilds of Los Angeles might ambush her into a flashback, she's become isolated, shutting herself off with a pair of ever-present noise-canceling headphones. Her world has shrunken to a small clutch of loved ones who are more plot devices than they are characters. 

Her concerned mother exists only through phone calls, her side of the conversation unheard by the audience. Her only friend (Austin Crute in a thankless role) is a double whammy of rom-com cliches. Not only is he the sassy Black friend, who doles out quips and advice, he's also the sassy gay friend, who doles out salty tough love. And for good measure, he's a DJ. He is cool, so we know that through association, she used to be. (To Crute's credit, he is charming in the part, but that doesn't make it well-written.)

Likewise wasted is Parks and Recreation's Retta, who is relegated to a therapist role that gives her little to do but nod and pronounce advice. That means two Black supporting characters pull a frustratingly familiar role, existing purely to prop up the sad, white protagonist in her self-focused ambitions. 

It's at these episodic group therapy sessions where glum Harriet meets David (Justin H. Min), a clumsy but sweet young man grieving the deaths of his parents. No sooner is David introduced that the quest to save Max is diluted by the beats of rom-coms, from the meet-cute to the getting-to-know-you phase to a low point that could break them up, which involves Harriet coming clean about her unique condition. But the time-travel love triangle here never offers tension because its construction is catastrophic. 

The Greatest Hits takes falling in love for granted. 

Presented only in lovey-dovey flashbacks, Max is never so much a person as much as an abstraction. No matter what song Harriet listens to, she's transported to a warm memory, or at least a benign one. Here they cuddle. There they play board games. Only through dialogue with her real-talking bestie is there any indication that that relationship was less than flawless. Essentially, Harriet is mourning the idea of Max rather than a flesh-and-blood person. So as soon as David is introduced, it's clear that poor, dead Max is just an obstacle for new love to overcome. 

However, this blooming romance isn't all that swoon-worthy. Sure, David seems lovely and has his life together. Unlike Max, he even has family and friends who exist and value him! But there’s no chemistry between Boynton and Min. Without a sexual spark, we're left to assume David would fall for Harriet on the basis of her charm. And while even in her deepest depression she is undeniably gorgeous, she's otherwise unremarkable. 

Her DJ friend tells us she loves music, but her tastes seem molded to impressing whomever she's with. Her supposedly edgy style feels off the rack from Urban Outfitters, and none of her dialogue suggests she's witty or terribly insightful. Essentially, The Greatest Hits assumes we'll fall for Harriet because she's there and Boynton is beautiful. While the actress has a lovely screen presence, it's not so overwhelming that she can make up for tissue-paper thin characterizations in a sappy screenplay. 

The Greatest Hits takes a compelling concept and flings it down the path of least interest. Despite selling itself on music, the actual soundtrack is unmemorable, save for an abrupt nostalgia moment with Nelly Furtado’s "I'm Like a Bird." Rather than expressing character through action, Benson relies on the dialogue of supporting characters to define his heartbroken heroine and her late boyfriend, making for a movie that feels more like eavesdropping on a clunky conversation than experiencing love, loss, or time travel.

Far from fun, romantic, or enthralling, The Greatest Hits is clumsy, vapid, and cringe. 

The Greatest Hits was reviewed out of SXSW 2024. The film opened in theaters for limited release April 5, then debuted on Hulu April 12. 

I'm in love with the mysterious monsters in Arcadian. The film itself is not really about these creepy critters. It's about a family struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world on their remote farm. In a sci-fi setting, director Ben Brewer crafts a compelling human drama about fathers and sons, siblings, first love, and growing up.

However, the moment this horror-thriller gives its audience a prolonged look at one single limb of its nighttime terrors, I was head over heels. In a world of xenomorphs, Cloverfield monsters, werewolves, and gremlins, I've never seen anything quite like this before. These things are so mesmerizing that they might actually upstage the movie's legendary headliner: the one, the only, the incredible Nicolas Cage. Don't get me wrong; he still makes a meal out of every single line he's given. He is, after all, Nicolas Cage.

SEE ALSO: Nicolas Cage and sons hide from nocturnal monsters in 'Arcadian' trailer What's Arcadian about?  Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins plays brothers in Benjamin Brewer's "Arcadian." Credit: RLJE Films and Shudder

Cage stars as a protective father who lives in an isolated farmhouse with his two 15-year-old sons, Thomas (Lost in Space's Maxwell Jenkins) and Joseph (Y2K’s Jaeden Martell). In the way of brothers, the boys couldn't be more different. Thomas is athletic, outgoing, and impulsive, willing to take risks or break rules to get what he wants — which is chiefly quality time with Charlotte (Saltburn's Sadie Soverall), a clever girl the next farm over. Joseph is an introvert who studies old chess games, fiddles with inventions in the garage, and sheepishly follows his father's every instruction, especially when it comes to their nightly lockdown. 

Arcadian swiftly displays their routine, shuttering every window, bolting every door, leaving not a single crack uncovered. For at night, the creatures come. The family won't give them a name. They won't tell stories of how they came to be, though cheeky Charlotte and lovestruck Thomas play a game called "crappy apocalypse," in which they speculate wildly about how the world came to end. (Clearly, this is a conversation post-apocalyptic parents dread even more than a sex talk.) But the details of what happened that led them here don't matter, because the how has no bearing on the now. 

Instead, Arcadian carefully establishes the precious balance struck to survive, and then the harrowing results when it is upset. A brash decision leads to a dangerous accident that blows apart the nightly routine. Father and sons face new challenges as these monsters strike in horrid ways. And all the while, Brewer tantalizes and terrifies us with his epic creations. 

Nicolas Cage leads a terrific cast.  Nicolas Cage and Maxwell Jenkins star in Benjamin Brewer's "Arcadian." Credit: RLJE Films and Shudder

While the movie offers Cage the kind of role he could do in his sleep by now — the end-of-the-world hero dad — the American icon brings a grit and gravitas that swiftly establishes the tone of the film.

Martell, who came off underwhelmingly flat in Y2K, vibrates with anxiety and frustration here, his boy genius aching for a chance to prove himself. As Thomas, Jenkins plays the heartthrob, his impulsiveness fueling the movie's romance but also its catastrophes. Thankfully, the script from Michael Nilon gives the love interest more to do than be pretty in the post-apocalypse. Scenes between Charlotte and Thomas not only build a solid story of first love but also the familiar beats of teen rebellion. The scratchy conflict between becoming a grown-up in front of parents who will always see you as a child gives the thriller emotional texture. Without the monsters, Arcadian could have been a lean indie drama that dabbles in sci-fi, like Never Let Me Go, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Prospect, or The Endless. But with the monsters, this movie fucking rules. 

The monsters of Arcadian are its most dazzling stars.  Sadie Soverall is no damsel in Benjamin Brewer's "Arcadian." Credit: RLJE Films and Shudder

To describe the creatures of Acadian might spoil the fun. Because they look so unusual, they seem to borrow inspiration from just about everything, from Nope to Attack the Block to Arachnophobia to nightmares we just haven't had yet.

It's not just how they look — a snarl of coarse hair, lanky limbs, sharp claws, and gleaming teeth. It's how Brewer presents them in teasing glances. First, a hand hidden in a shadow; which part is the thing itself and which part is just darkness is impossible to determine. The shadows also help Brewer stretch the film's visual effects budget, by hiding CGI seams. But these slight scenes never feel like a cheat because of clever staging. In one scene, a human sleeps in the foreground, while in the back there's the out-of-focus form of the monster, its invasion made all the more atrocious by the sound of it, a slurping, slinking sound that will explode into sharp bangs as its jaws slam like a chattering bear trap. The shadows and sound create a dizzying effect, jolting us back into childhood, cringing under the covers from a mysterious bump in the night.  

But the very best monster scene isn’t even one of rampage. Instead, it’s one that shows how sly these mysterious beasts are. It begins with a single latch left unlocked. And what unfurls through a peephole is so sick and so scary that I fear it'll pop up in my bad dreams for years to come, an echo of the outrageous possibilities of doom. It's not so much about what is shown, but how. Brewer has remarkable restraint when it comes to slowly building up to a big reveal of those creepy critters. A wide shot patiently held gives viewers plenty to watch and the time to really wriggle in awful anticipation.

And yet, what comes after is far more spectacular. Like Steven Spielberg did with Jaws, once Brewer has his audience hooked on the high of truly frightening monsters, he throws physics out the window and embraces fire and violence. What these things manage to do in their onslaught is so wild and surprising that I was shrieking in the theater. Out of fear? Out of surprise? Out of excitement? All of it. I'd come for Nic Cage, but I was in awe of these monsters that made me feel like a kid again, discovering the joy of creature features with their furry frights. 

Now, some might bemoan that Arcadian takes its time getting to the monsters. But this isn't a shitty B-movie where the beasts are the only good reason to give it a watch. Brewer delicately builds this claustrophobic community not only to set the stage for his scene-stealing creatures, but also to establish how — even at the end of the world — being a teenager sucks in the same old ways. Parents just don't understand. Your home can feel like a cage. The world beyond is terrifying and unknowable, but that doesn't mean you're not ready to take it on.

It's the monsters that bring the big, delicious, funky thrills of Arcadian, sparking screams and gasps and cheers. But it's Cage and his onscreen kids who give the movie stakes and the emotional center that is required for a great monster movie, be it Jaws or Alien. 

Simply put, Arcadian is a rollicking thrill ride, fueled by creature-feature thrills. But what makes this good movie pretty damn great is the human story at its heart, which is compelling on its own. 

Arcadian opens exclusively in theaters April 12.

UPDATE: Mar. 28, 2024, 12:24 p.m. EDT Arcadian was reviewed out of SXSW 2024.

Watching Sasquatch Sunset is an intoxicating experience, in part because it is so strange — while disgusting and heartfelt — that it feels at times more like a hallucination than a film that could actually exist. If nothing else, it's the sweetest movie ever made that features shit-flinging. 

Buzzed about out of its Sundance premiere, Sasquatch Sunset centers on a family of nomadic cryptids, who hunt, gather, sleep, hoot, and fight amid a towering wilderness. In some respects, the film's co-directors, brothers David and Nathan Zellner, conceptualized Sasquatch Sunset like a nature documentary, with wide angles taking in the vast forests around the eponymous critters. Quiet close-ups invite human audiences to seek meaning in the furrowed brow of the bigfoot family, who communicate in growls, grunts, and howls. Yet there is no voiceover narrator to add context, or ease us in understanding the weird ways of these beasts. And David Attenborough would blush at the animalistic nature the Zellners portray, which includes spraying urine, flinging feces, onscreen mating, full-frontal Sasquatch genitals, and a most ingenious use for afterbirth. (Nope. Not that one.)

There's certainly a self-aware humor to these boldly gross-out moments. But the Zellners have something more serious stirring at the film's core. 

Sasquatch Sunset is shouldered by Riley Keough.  Riley Keough stars as a bigfoot in "Sasquatch Sunset." Credit: Bleeker Street

Between 2014's whimsical drama Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter and the 2018 offbeat Western dramedy Damsel, the Zellner Brothers have built a reputation for making films that shift radically yet poetically in tone. Their narratives are bizarre, bittersweet, and beautiful. With Sasquatch Sunset, they continue on this path, colliding a sincere family drama with scatological humor and star power flocked in fur. 

Riley Keough, the American actress who's played free-spirited beauties in Logan Lucky, Under the Silver Lake, Zola, and Daisy and the Six, is truly unrecognizable here, covered head to toe in prosthetics and fur transforming her into a mother Sasquatch. Joining her — and likewise mythically made over — are co-director Nathan Zellner, who plays an aggressive alpha male; Jesse Eisenberg, as a sensitive beta male; and Christophe Zajac-Denek as a Sasquatch cub. 

At first, it can be a challenge to make out who is who, as the family resemblance is strong in hair color and down-turned expression. But before long, the human eyes peering beneath the pronounced prosthetic brows become distinctive enough. Zellner defines his brute with a hulking physicality and surly glare. Zajac-Denek bounces about with a guileless lightness, a babe in the woods. Eisenberg putters about the forest so gently, it's easy to imagine his Sasquatch fitting in amid a famer's market. Actually, at times, his performance feels so humanly neurotic that it can break the suspension of disbelief, turning the carefully rendered full-body make-up into a mascot costume being capered in. But Keough, who also produced the film, becomes its emotional center. When she stomps her big, funky foot, you can feel the literal and metaphorical weight of it.

As unpredictable turns of fate hit her family, this Sasquatch responds with rage, agony, panic, and, yes, occasionally poop flinging. And while the male Sasquatches are made for visual punchlines involving their macho hubris, floppy phalluses, or ineptitude to survive on their own, Keough's mother carries the weight of carrying on — and carrying a pregnancy over the course of a year-long journey. It is her mournful eyes that scream in exhaustion as she breastfeeds, scares off would-be predators, or stares out into the wilderness that communicates most powerfully what Sasquatch Sunset is all about. 

Deforestation is the silent villain of Sasquatch Sunset.  Three Sasquatches stand on a hillside. Credit: Bleeker Street

Early on, it's clear this clan of cryptids is on a quest to find more of their kind. They have a ritual of cries that call out to the miles of mountain and woods around them, begging for a reply. As they journey, seeking other Sasquatch, signs of human harm on their land pop up: A spray-painted X on a soon-to-be felled tree here; a camping tent stuffed with snacks there. With each, an unspoken threat is made, one that the audience — but not the unsuspecting Sasquatch — understands. And so a tension grows, even as we might chuckle over the youngest critter giddily gobbling up candy buttons with abandon. Humans can mean nothing good for these untamed creatures. 

The Zellners weave this advocacy for environmentalism amid goofy gags about sex, bodily functions, and violence. Yet their meaning is as impossible to ignore as the world-weary expression on the female Sasquatch's face as she faces another day.

In this blend of the strange and sentimental, the ardent and the asinine, Sasquatch Sunset feels radical and ridiculous. If you squint you can easily imagine a remake with goofier grunting and perhaps the likes of Will Ferrell or Kevin Hart in suits that don't disguise their famous features. The restraint the Zellners show is part of what makes Sasquatch Sunset so extraordinary. It is unabashedly a gross-out comedy, urging audiences to laugh over the goopy muck of sex, death, and childbirth. Yet just underneath this sticky surface, there's an ardent sadness, warning of the ravages mankind brings with our conquering and carelessness. Which is not to say some vignettes don't fall a bit flat. Even at an hour and 29 minutes, the film can feel mundane and meandering at times. 

Overall, however, Sasquatch Sunset is a daringly ambitious and fascinatingly audacious family drama that's sure to cause giggles, gasps, and gagging.

Sasquatch Sunset opens in select theaters April 12, expanding nationwide on April 19. 

UPDATE: Apr. 11, 2024, 2:45 p.m. EDT "Sasquatch Sunset" was originally reviewed out of SXSW 2024 and has been updated to reflect theatrical options.

Are you in the market for some industrial, pharmaceutical, or food grade glycine? Then look no further than Donghua Jinlong, TikTok's favourite glycine supplier.

A TikTok meme has users extolling the virtues of glycine – an amino acid that builds protein – from Chinese chemical manufacturer Donghua Jinlong after the company's advertising videos went unexpectedly viral. Numerous creators are spreading the good word about Donghua Jinlong's products, affirming that it's the only commercial glycine manufacturer for them. 

SEE ALSO: 'Who's that wonderful girl?' Behind the viral TikTok trend inspired by a Canadian puppet show

Most TikTok users will never need to purchase glycine, much less do so on an industrial scale. That hasn't stopped them from enthusiastically standing by the Shijiazhuang-based company, with satirical discourse praising Donghua Jinlong's glycine and defending it from naysayers cropping up all over TikTok. 

Some have even taken to disparaging the company's competitors, confidently declaring that no other industrial glycine manufacturer could possibly match Donghua Jinlong's high standards. After all, Donghua Jinlong has "over 40 years of research and manufacturing experience", "a whopping 31 patents under their belt," and is "tirelessly striving for a better life for humanity."

How did the Donghua Jinlong TikTok meme begin?

The Donghua Jinlong glycine meme was unwittingly sparked by the company's own TikTok account @donghuajinlong, which uploaded its first video in early December last year. 

Set to an instrumental soundtrack that could easily score The Sims 4's building mode, the 37-second video featured sweeping overhead shots of industrial buildings below the text, "How strong is made in China? Since 1979 Glycine comes from here." The clip ended with the rather optimistic request for viewers to "follow for more," the creator apparently believing that there's a significant demand for drone shots of Chinese factories on TikTok. 

Yet the TikTok algorithm works in mysterious ways, and Donghua Jinlong did indeed find an eager audience — though perhaps not one it was expecting. The glycine manufacturer's videos were pushed out to users' For You pages, instigating interest in the company and its unconventionally straightforward TikTok advertising.

Tweet may have been deleted

All of Donghua Jinlong's videos follow a similar format to the first, with many including a voiceover detailing the merits of its ISO22000, ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO45001, BRC, FAMI-QS, kosher, halal, and REACH certified glycine. Donghua Jinlong's most popular TikTok was uploaded in late March, and has over 661,000 views and 70,000 likes at time of writing. 

"Unlock Donghua Jinlong's food grade glycine in 2024," says the computer-generated voiceover. "Suitable as a flavour enhancer, sweetener, and nutritional supplement."

SEE ALSO: TikTok's latest trend asks users to unleash their inner stadium hot dog vendor. It rules.

The appeal of TikTok's Donghua Jinlong's glycine meme largely lies in its absurdity. TikTok is a popular platform among younger people, rife with fun dance trends, "get ready with me" story times, and social commentary. It is also filled with influencers promoting the next Amazon must-have, showing off Shien hauls, or otherwise enticing viewers to drop cash on the latest trending item that they promise will improve your life.

Donghua Jinlong's earnest videos advertising a product most have never heard of to a demographic that has no use for it provided an unusual break from TikTok's typical content. These humorously unexpected advertisements inspired users to respond with a similar enthusiasm and conviction, creating their own videos passionately sharing the benefits of sourcing glycine from Donghua Jinlong.

Tweet may have been deleted

Donghua Jinlong has not responded to Mashable's request for comment. However, it looks as though the company can't quite comprehend its newfound viral fame. While several TikTok commenters have requested Donghua Jinlong-branded apparel, the glycine manufacturer has typically reacted with polite confusion — alongside enthusiasm at any praise for its glycine.

"Sorry, it hasn't been mentioned yet," the account replied to a query about T-shirts. "It seems like you don't understand me yet."

What is glycine, and what is it used for?

Glycine is the smallest and structurally simplest amino acid — organic molecules that are essential building blocks for proteins. As a solid, it takes the form of a crystalline white powder that tastes sweet and dissolves in water.

Small amounts of glycine are naturally found in some high-protein foods, including meat, dairy, and legumes, as well as naturally in the human body. The chemical acts as a neurotransmitter, and is particularly prominent in the brainstem and spinal cord.

Though glycine is considered a nonessential amino acid, the anti-inflammatory substance still plays an important role in our biological processes. A minor shortage of glycine won't adversely impact your health, but an acute deficiency may have a negative impact on your immune response, growth, and metabolism of nutrients. Glycine supplements are used to treat various metabolic disorders, inflammatory diseases, obesity, cancers, and diabetes, as well as enhance sleep and support neurological function. 

On the other hand, an excessive buildup of glycine can cause severe neurological problems, including cognitive impairment, intellectual disabilities, and seizures. Humans generally only require two grams of glycine from their food per day, so taking unnecessary, unprescribed glycine supplements can have a significant adverse impact. 

In short, please don't go ingesting glycine just for the memes, food grade or not.

SEE ALSO: Proposed U.S. TikTok ban could impact all Chinese apps

If against all odds you actually are in need of commercial quantities of glycine, the type you order will depend on what you'll be using it for. Glycine has a multitude of uses in various industries, including food production, pesticide manufacturing, and even electronics. It also comes in different grades according to its purpose. 

Donghua Jinlong supplies four different types of glycine. Food grade glycine can act as a sweetener, flavour enhancer, and preservative. Industrial grade glycine is more suitable for water treatment, increasing the uptake of dye in fabric, and other unedible uses. Pharmaceutical standard glycine is used to create drugs and cosmetics. Finally, feed additive glycine is added to animal fodder to supplement their nutrition.

Tweet may have been deleted

Many TikTok users have made comments suggesting that they frequently consume Donghua Jinlong's food grade glycine, some even eating it straight from a bowl. Fortunately, it's safe to assume that this is a joke, just like the Tide Pod Challenge and NyQuil chicken memes before it. Unfortunately, the joke is also in a prime position to sail over the heads of U.S. politicians. The U.S. is currently attempting to completely ban TikTok, claiming that the video sharing app exerts a harmful Chinese influence over America's youth.

"We are dangerously close to this trend being played in front of Congress as evidence that the U.S. population has been brainwashed by China, so keep that one in mind please," TikTok creator @janedoe0018 noted. "Anyways, when are you guys buying your glycine? Because I'm thinking now before the prices [rise]."

It can feel intimidating to return to an in-office routine after working remotely for an extended period of time. But there are steps you can take to make the transition back to the office a smooth one. Redesign your routine. This means rethinking every component of your schedule. If this feels overwhelming, don’t fret. Start by […]

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TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to a Tykr Premium Plan is on sale for £75.88 with the code ENJOY20.

Have you wanted to pick up a new skill? How about one that earns you money? No, we're not talking about side hustles this time. We're talking about the stock market.

Tykr Stock Screener helps you confidently manage your investments on your own, serving as your very own stock screening and education platform. And you can currently score a Pro Plan lifetime subscription for just £75.88 with the code ENJOY20.

If you're ready to wade into the stock market, let Tykr Stock Screener help you get acquainted with the ins and outs of investing. The whole process can become less daunting and more fun with this handy app for your smartphone or tablet. Tykr aims to make things less complicated, thanks to easy-to-understand summaries for over 30,000 U.S. and International stocks.

With the Tykr app, just get it loaded and you'll be able to make more informed decisions on stocks in as little as 30 seconds. It lays it all out in an easy-to-understand manner — either on sale, a potential buy, overpriced, or a potential sell. It's all determined by a rigorous algorithm that the app created behind the scenes that makes things super simple — the higher the score, the safer Tykr thinks the investment. So while using Tykr, you can potentially make wise decisions while learning skills like when it may be advantageous to buy and sell. 

Take some of the guesswork out of investing with a Pro Plan lifetime subscription to Tykr Stock Screener, now only £75.88 with the code ENJOY20.

Opens in a new window Credit: Tykr Tykr Stock Screener Pro Plan (Lifetime Subscription) £75.88 with the code ENJOY20 Get Deal

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for April 12'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.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

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 used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.

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:

Unpleasant complaining.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no letters that appear twice.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter W.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. What's the answer to Wordle today?

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 Wordle #1028 is...

WHINY.

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.

Reporting by Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.