Suicide Squad finally opened in theaters this weekend, charting impressive box-office numbers but less-than-stellar critical response. A bunch of io9 folks at went to see the movie over the weekend and, like lots of viewers, came away with nagging feelings that the movie could have been... well, better. Here are our thoughts on how we would have changed Suicide Squad.
From senior staff writer Evan Narcisse:
No Military Support
The whole premise of Suicide Squad was to assemble a full-deniability, metahuman-level task force to handle ultra-powerful threats. So the fact that the Squad rolls into Midway City with a ton of air and ground support feels like a bit of a head-scratcher as creative decisions go. Thematically, the presence of a thick contingent of U.S. military troops provides a foil for the group of non-heroes; their abilities look average compared to super-feats pulled off by the villains. They also serve as a backdrop for the screwed-up moral and mental states of the Squad. But commanding officer Rick Flag does that all by himself. The Suicide Squad would’ve felt a lot more formidable as just a six, seven-person team without a bunch of G.I. Joe-a-likes in the background.
A Better Villain/Threat
Once squad member-gone-bad Enchantress gets powered up by her formerly dormant brother, we get shown scenes of the sorceress destroying satellites and military infrastructure. What exactly was the deal here? The Enchantress and her antediluvian transdimensional god-sibling wanted to, er, end modernity or something? Outside of the consequences that it would have on some of the core cast’s loved ones, the threat they presented to the world at large was vague and tough to care about. A villain from Apokolips could’ve built on the dream sequence from Batman vs Superman and provided stronger foreshadowing for the alleged threats that the Justice League will be facing.
Less Cannon Fodder
Yeah, those pustule-visaged grunts coming at Deadshot and crew sure were gross-looking for the first few minutes after they appeared. But the fights where the Squad and their armed forces support engage with the necro-zombies mostly felt like filler. The exception being the sequences where Deadshot mows down a whole wave by himself. By the time Harley’s elevator fight with the Enchantress’ goons rolls around, the audience is probably already in love with her. Every time the crusty grunts showed up on screen, I knew nothing of consequence was going to happen.
Throw Away Captain Boomerang
Played by Jai Courtney, the Aussie villain was mostly smarmy comic relief in the David Ayer film. But, in the Ostrander/Yale comics which comprise the most fondly-remembered version of the Squad, Digger Harkness was a slimy, opportunistic creep-bro. He wasn’t at all the lovable, laughable thief portrayed in the movie; choosing a more troubling interpretation could have given the film the dark edge it seemed to be crying out for. This version of Boomerang was a waste; the minor laughs his lines got weren’t worth the screen time spent on him.
More Batman
This was only Batman’s second appearance in the DC Extended Universe and his scenes were almost superfluous. It felt like the Dark Knight was in the film only because Harley—and by extension, the Joker—was there. Suicide Squad should’ve told viewers more about Batman in this universe, especially since the movie mentions that Harley helped Joker kill Robin. That factoid would’ve been the perfect vector to pull the Dark Knight into a confrontation with Amanda Waller, who’s using two bad guys that he put away as part of her team. Is the Batman of the DCEU okay with his enemies running free, including a woman partially responsible for his sidekick’s death? More screentime for the Bat would’ve let the filmmakers answer this question, provided they thought of it in the first place. But the post-credits scene sort of makes it seem like Ayer and crew didn’t get that far in their Bat-thinking.
From weekend editor Beth Elderkin:
Change the Mission
There was no need for the major conflict to be supernatural; in fact, I think it made the story weaker. It doubled down on the “themes” from BvS without adding anything new. It would’ve been so much more interesting for DC to approach how supernatural forces, especially evil ones, handle human conflicts. Have the SS be used for unique missions the government couldn’t be officially involved in, i.e. their entire original purpose. Have the final battle be, for example, rescuing a valuable POW from behind enemy lines. If they get caught, they take the fall. Since the big mission would be smaller, you could devote more time to establishing and training the team— you know, like most competent origin stories do. In this case, we’d see their taunts, let them get into antics. Watch them be freakin’ bad guys.
Give Harley Quinn Longer Lines
Margot Robbie killed it as Harley. But she only spoke in quips; her lines were typically 15 words or less each. While they were cute, they didn’t give us a chance to really identify with our so-called “co-protagonist.” I didn’t need her to be sympathetic, in fact, quite the opposite. I wanted to see her rant and rave and just be crazy. Show us just how great a Harley Quinn Robbie is. For crying out loud, Will Smith got like five monologues, why couldn’t he give one of them to her?
Take Away Zack Snyder’s Rain Machine
If I have to see one more drop of rain in a Snyder movie, I’m going to lose my shit. It’s lazy and contrived visual storytelling to mask the fact that you’re not actually doing any real storytelling. And no, I don’t care that David Ayer directed Suicide Squad, because it’s still a Zack Snyder film at heart. How do I know this? Because there’s still goddamned rain in a third of it.
From staff writer Katharine Trendacosta:
Joker’s Mild
Cut the Joker. Or at least, cut most of the Joker. He’s fine in the Harley flashbacks. And even his sudden appearance at the end might have worked. But he seemed to be in a completely different movie to the rest of the cast. Especially since, other than wanting to break Harley out, his plot wasn’t related to the main threat—he ended up just pulling focus and wasting time that could have been spent with the actual Suicide Squad. Plus, the non-flashback stuff all had the Joker obsessed with getting Harley back, which is wildly out of character for the Joker, who is usually portrayed as not really caring about what happens to Harley as long as he gets what he needs from her. She’s obsessed with him, not the other way around. Cut him, and use Jared Leto’s tears to water a plant.
A Little Backstory Could’ve Gone a Long Way
If they were going to make the main mission what it was, they shouldn’t have made it the first mission of that team. It would make a lot more sense, narratively, for it to be framed as “saving” a member—which I swear, I thought they were doing until it turned out the person they were saving was Waller—and then for it to be a betrayal. If the whole point had to be “found family and BFFs” then they needed to lay that groundwork so Harley leaving, Rick Flag and Dr. Moon sleeping together, et cetera actually made sense as shit to make the team angry.
Samurai No-Down
Poor Katana. Just, poor Katana. Her whole backstory was confined to Flag telling the others what happened in her past. If you’re going to add her to a team she never rolled with in the classic comics, do more with her presence.
From entertainment reporter Germain Lussier:
Less Pop Songs
Yes, we know. The first full Suicide Squad trailer was universally praised for its use of music and fun tone. And yes, we know that Guardians of the Galaxy was a hit in early August a few years ago with a similar use of pop music. But pop music is not this movie. It works on occasion but, for the most part, it’s very out of place. This is a dark movie about a team of supervillains. Why not keep that tone consistent with a rousing yet ominous orchestral score?
Make the Joker the Bad Guy
I think we all agree the Joker was misused in the film. And if you aren’t going to cut him like Katharine suggests, why not make him the villain? You can have the same set-up, where Amanda Waller puts together the team to have in case of a big threat. But then, just don’t make the threat some dumb secondary character like the Enchantress. Either make it the Joker the whole time, or make it a mystery and reveal it’s him later. Not only does that give him more to do, but it gives Harley a moral dilemma when she’s been battling all movie and then realizes the culprit was her puddin’.
When Gareth Edwards and the cast of RogueOne descended upon Star Wars Celebration last month, we learned a tiny bit about some of the locations we’d see in the movie—including Jedha, a spiritual home for Force users all over the galaxy. But now we have a little more about why the Imperials are so interested in the planet.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Edwards discussed Jedha’s place as a planet of spiritual pilgrimage in a world where the Jedi have been blotted out of existence—it’s now pretty much a place that exemplifies the galaxy we see in the original Star Wars films, one just two decades removed from the Jedi but already treating them like a long-lost myth:
The Force is basically in Star Wars like a religion, and they’re losing their faith in the period that we start the movie. We were trying to find a physical location we could go to that would speak to the themes of losing your faith and the choice between letting the Empire win, or evil win, and good prevailing. It got embodied in this place we called Jedha.
But interestingly, Edwards goes on to tease that the Empire are on Jedha for reasons beyond the fact that it was formerly a orce-userF stronghold:
It was essentially taken over by the Empire. It’s an occupied territory… for reasons we probably can’t reveal.
There’s something very important in Jedha that serves both the Jedi and the Empire. It felt very much like something we could relate to in the real world.
It’s not confirmed, but Entertainment Weekly goes on to speculate (and heavily imply) that that something might be a familiar piece of Star Wars lore: a source of kyber crystals, the rare mineral that focuses, and gives color to, the blade of a lightsaber.
But in both the old expanded universe and the Disney canon, kyber crystals were also used in the construction of the Death Star’s superlaser to focus the beam of deadly energy. So if Jedha is a place where they can be found as EW speculates, that’d make sense as something Jedi and Imperial alike would covet. It might not be the case, but for now, it makes a decent amount of sense!
We’ll learn more about Rogue One later this week, when a new trailer is unleashed upon, of all places, coverage for the Rio 2016 Olympics.
As a self-published ebook Zenith, the first chapter in an ongoing scifi series called The Androma Saga, is already a New York Times best-seller. Now, io9 can exclusively reveal that Harlequin, a division of HarperCollins, has acquired the rights to release the full series as three-dimensional products.
Written by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings, the first part of Zenith was released in June and hit #1 on the New York Times eBooks list... and it wasn’t even the full book. Which is why Harlequin pursued it, and plans on releasing the full thing sometime next year.
Zenith is about a notorious space mercenary nicknamed the Bloody Baroness. She and her all-girl crew fly across the galaxy on the Marauder and are tested by an evil bounty hunter with links to the Baroness’ past. At the same time, a mysterious, evil ruler on the planet Xen Ptera is biding her time to tear the universe in half and it’ll be up to the Bloody Baroness and her crew to unravel the mystery.
“This spaceship is ready for lift off!” said Alsberg. “I am so ecstatic about this new adventure Lindsay and I get to go on with Zenith. We started off just wanting to do this for our readers as something fun, but it quickly turned into a story we’re passionate about and so proud of. I am just so grateful to the readers for their support so far, and I cannot wait to see where this journey is going to take us. I am also super excited to soon hold Zenith in my hands. That will be such a surreal moment!”
“The journey with Zenith has been amazing so far,” added Cummings. “We have the best readers in the entire world and I’m so thrilled that we will now be able to offer them the chance to hold the full physical book in their hands in 2017. Sasha and I are so excited to join forces with Harlequin Teen for the rest of Zenith, and we’re confident that readers are going to have a blast embarking on this adventure with us!”
The next chapter in the Star Wars universe will be here before Rogue One. It’s the return of Star Wars Rebels, and Disney XD just announced we can expect season three to finally premiere on September 24.
Along with the announcement, here’s a brief teaser:
For more on what to expect in season three, here’s our review of the premiere episode.
I have a crippling addiction, and it’s hoarding screenshots of conversations and announcements made by my coworkers in our chatroom. Not incriminating ones, just the ones I find particularly funny. And now I am going to share some of them with you now.
Slack is the internal chat system that we at Gawker Media—and many other media companies—use to pitch stories, brainstorm headlines, and otherwise do actual work. It’s also where things get weird.
For example, here’s a selection of words of wisdom from our dear leader, Rob Bricken:
Although his highest Slack point was probably his summation of the problems faced by the Riddler in Gotham:
In case anyone was wondering if we’re as nerdy as we claim: James Whitbrook and I will never shut up about Star Wars names:
Now, I’ve only included every time in the last 18 months that I’ve said this, but trust me, everyone here has said this at least a couple of times:
Baby explosion, defined:
What happened when I went on vacation:
And, of course, a great pitch:
Rob once had a really important Mystery Science Theater 3000 question for me:
And I have strong feelings about re-reading The Jungle Book that aren’t related to racism:
But our crowning achievement may be the Comic-Con in 2014, where I made the mistake of admitting my nightmares:
Which lead, inexorably, to this (note that due to weird slacking, the part where I say I’ll ditch Boxtrolls is in response to the Rockets Over Snarb one below it):
And then, all of these:
And then, the morning after, this:
Finally, the most important words of wisdom from our esteemed executive editor, John Cook, on a day when the office was almost below zero:
Legends of Tomorrow has added another new hero to its time-traveling team: Courtney Whitmore, a.k.a. Stargirl. She’ll be played by Sarah Gray, whose TV resume includes Wayward Pines, Lucifer, and Bates Motel. She also has a supporting role in the upcoming Power Rangers movie.
Stargirl—a character who previously turned up on Smallville—isn’t the first new Justice Society of America member to join Legends of Tomorrow’s second season. Previously cast was iZombie’s Matthew MacCaull as Commander Steel; we’ll also soon be hearing who’ll play Obsidian and Doctor Mid-Nite.
Stargirl has deep personal meaning for DC Comics’ Geoff Johns; he based the character on his sister, also named Courtney, who was just 18 when she died in the TWA Flight 800 disaster in 1996.
The Department of Energy plays a dark role in Netflix’s new series, Stranger Things, but the real DoE wants you to know it’s nothing like its sinister fictional counterpoint. If we’ve learned anything from the show, though, it’s to be wary. Which is why we fact-checked the DoE’s Stranger Things fact-check for you.
1) “HAWKINS NATIONAL LABORATORY DOESN’T EXIST.”
The Department of Energy starts with the easy one: The events that take place in Hawkins National Laboratory couldn’t take place there because Hawkins National Laboratory doesn’t exist.
Google appears to back that claim and the DoE is out of the gate with our fact-check’s first awarded point.
Stranger Things’ Department of Energy: 0 Real Department of Energy: 1
2) “THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT DOESN’T EXPLORE PARALLEL UNIVERSES.”
Its researchers don’t explore parallel universes, says the DoE, because no such known universes exist—and on first glance this story also checks out.
But, the theory of multiple universes holds that there are an infinite number of parallel universes where every possible world—perhaps even one where no such parallel universes exist—is made reality. Therefore, isn’t the lack of parallel universes in our own world in itself proof of a different parallel universe in which they do exist? Just a little something to think about while we assign this point over to Stranger Things.
Stranger Things’ Department of Energy: 1, Real Department of Energy: 1
3) “THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT DOESN’T MESS WITH MONSTERS.”
Wise choice, Department of Energy, wise choice. A point for you.
Stranger Things’ Department of Energy: 1, Real Department of Energy: 2
You know what? You guys do seem nice. Take another point, new friends.
Stranger Things’ Department of Energy: 1 Real Department of Energy: 3.
5) “LIGHTS AREN’T POWERED BY MONSTERS OR OTHER LIFEFORMS.”
Okay, DoE, we gave you your first point about the lack of monsters, but it’s starting to seem like you’re focusing an awful lot of time and energy here into denying their existence.
Almost too much.
Almost as though you’re a little nervous about what we might find if we looked a little closer at that thing behind you that is definitely not a dark menagerie of hidden electricity monsters used to secretly power the grid.
Point, Stranger Things.
Final Tally: Stranger Things’ Department of Energy: 2 Real Department of Energy: 3 (WINNER)
A stone blade containing traces of rhino residue. (Image: April Nowell)
Archaeologists have discovered a treasure trove of ancient stone tools at a dig near Azraq, Jordan, some of which still contain traces of animal residue. A number of food items on this bona fide paleolithic menu will be familiar to the modern eater, while others, well, not so much.
A new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science shows that humans who lived during the Middle Pleistocene (781,000 to 126,000 years ago) were highly adaptable and capable of exploiting a wide range of prey, including wild cattle, horses, duck, and even rhinoceros.
Researchers have known for decades that humans and other early two-legged hominins had been making tools to kill and butcher animals for as long as 2.5 million years ago. But now, for the first time ever, a research team led by April Nowell from the University of Victoria has discovered direct evidence pointing to the exact species of animals these early humans were hunting and consuming. The artifacts found at the Azraq site contain the oldest evidence of protein residue ever found on stone tools. Prior to this study, the oldest animal residue found on stone tools was dated at 11,500 years ago.
“It is huge,” noted Nowell in the Toronto Star. “I think that’s why we were so, so excited about this and there are bits and pieces of other evidence of the long-term survivability of organics that are starting to appear.”
Paleoanthropologist April Nowell at work. (Image: James Pokines)
Nowell’s team, which included members from universities in the United States and Jordan, excavated 10,000 stone tools at the site, in what is today an arid desert. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, during the Middle Pleistocene, it was the site of a wetlands, a veritable oasis for a group of proto-humans who pre-dated Homo sapiens in Africa by thousands of years.
Of these tools, 7,000 were carefully examined, including scrapers, flakes, projectile points, and hand axes. Seventeen of these implements still contained traces of protein residue, including blood and other animal products. The origin of this residue, which was found in the little fissures and crevasses of the tools, were confirmed through a matching process involving animal antibodies.
Analysis revealed the identity of the butchered animals, a list that includes horse, wild cattle, duck, and rhinoceros. Based on this evidence, it’s clear that the ancient humans who lived in this demanding habitat were highly adaptable and capable of taking advantage of a wide range of available prey. But as to how they were able to take down a rhino, or process its tough-as-nails carcass, the researchers admit they’re dumbfounded.
“What this tells us about their lives and complex strategies for survival, such as the highly variable techniques for prey exploitation, as well as predator avoidance and protection of carcasses for food, significantly diverges from what we might expect from this extinct species,” noted Nowell in a release.
Excitingly, the same technique developed by Newell and her colleagues could be used by other researchers to study other stone implements, including those that are significantly older. Archaeologists could learn about the dietary habits of ancient hominids who lived even longer ago.
Optimus Prime passed away on August 8, 1986. It was 30 full years ago today, when Transformers: The Movie debuted, that the heroic robot sacrificed his own life to defeat the evil Megatron. But an event that was tragic for Prime’s fellow Autobots turned out to be completely traumatic for me and god knows how many other kids.
I was nine when Transformers: The Movie came out. My great-grandparents had died when I was too young to understand what that meant; to me, they were occasionally around, and then they were not occasionally around. So I’d never really experienced the loss of death before, how someone that seems to be a permanent fixture in your life can just disappear.
I wasn’t really a big Transformers fan growing up, but not being a fan didn’t mean that I wasn’t watching the cartoon every single morning before I went to school or that I didn’t demand to see the movie the first weekend it was in theaters. One of the cartoons I watched… as a movie? That I could see in a movie theater? It was too cool to miss, even if I had disliked the Transformers, which I certainly didn’t.
That said, I was quite sad when Optimus died in the movie, after he and Megatron give each other mortal blows. He may not have been my favorite, but the character was awesome, and absolutely the star of the cartoon; it was moving to see the rest of the Autobots in anguish, and to see Prime’s final act to give the Matrix of Leadership to a young Autobot named Hot Rod, who was unready to lead.
I was sad, but I knew something the Autobots didn’t (or at least I thought I did)—Optimus Prime would be back before the end of the movie.
This wasn’t a wild hope as much as it was a fact of my entertainment life, presented by… well, every TV show, movie, book, comic, etc. that I had ever read. The idea of telling a kid about the reality of death in a cartoon was almost as anathema as giving a child heroin; it seemed so heinous as to be impossible. This was a culture that prevented He-Man—a barbarian who wielded a sword—from even punching his enemies in his cartoon. (If you rewatch it, you’ll see that in every single physical alternation with a living being, He-Man tosses him into mud, water, a barrel, and so on. It’s crazy.) Sure, Optimus Prime had died, but he was a robot. He could be rebuilt! And besides, Megatron had been resurrected as Galvatron just a few minutes later in the film—I knew with absolute certainty that Optimus would return, ready to fight anew, before the end of the film…
…and then he didn’t. Instead, Hot Rod transformed (er, from a robot into a different robot) into Rodimus Prime, a more adult Transformer who was somewhat capable of leading the Autobots, but was no Optimus Prime. When the end credits rolled out, Optimus Prime was still… dead.
Honestly, I don’t think I was even sad. More… confused. It seemed impossible to me that Optimus Prime was actually gone. He was a hero. He was the hero of the Transformers. I was Fred Savage in The Princess Bride, looking for someone I could inform that an error had been made—that this was wrong. Still, I was certain the TV series would correct the error.
According to Wikipedia, the new season of Transformers premiered September 15, 1986, not much more than a month after the movie. I am certain this wait felt like approximately a decade to me as I wondered how Optimus would return. Would it be immediately? Would the season begin with the Autobots on a journey to recover their lost leader? But when the episode arrived, Optimus Prime was still dead.
That’s when I realized he was truly gone. And that’s when I cried.
Again, I didn’t cry because Optimus Prime was my favorite character, or because Transformers was the series I lived and breathed. It was because for two years—a large portion of my cognitive life—Optimus Prime had been part of it, and now he was dead, never to be seen again. For the first time I realized that heroes didn’t always survive, that being good didn’t always protect you from the bad things of the world. In a way, I suppose this was exactly what the adults who regulated the children’s entertainment industry had feared would happen if a kid ever accidentally got a glimpse of the harshness of reality. But just because the lesson upset me doesn’t mean it wasn’t valuable.
There’s so much to recommend about Transformers: The Movie: some excellent animation, a bizarrely over-talented voice cast, the Junkions, Stan Bush’s “The Touch,” and so much more. (Shout Factory will be finally be bringing an extras-laden Blu-ray of the film to America on September 13, if you want to check it out.) But when I think about this film, I think about mortality, and crying hysterically, and innocence lost—and I’m grateful to this film for all of it.
PS—Optimus Prime was totally resurrected in the cartoon on February 25, 1987. Too little too late, guys.
While I was writing this, Shout Factory released a trailer for the movie’s upcoming 30th Anniversary Blu-ray:
I’m not 100 percent sure why the trailer says it’s available now, since according to Amazon both the Blu-ray and new DVD will be released on September 13, but I do have to say that transfer looks mighty good.
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The Arf Pets Automatic Pet Feeder can hold over a gallon of dry food at a time, and distribute perfectly portioned meals up to four times a day, on the schedule of your choosing. It’ll even sound an alarm as it dispenses the food, so your pet doesn’t miss out. I wouldn’t recommend leaving your pet alone for days with this thing, but if work keeps you late every once in awhile, it’d be great to know that your furry friend isn’t going hungry.
Today only, Amazon’s offering the Arf for $70, or $30 less than MSRP. Just note that it’s a Gold Box deal, so grab yours before they’re all gobbled up.
Amazon bills this buy two and save $5 promotion as a back to school special, but I’m not going back to school anytime soon, and I would still love to buy some of these snacks. Eligible products include everything from Lays chips to IZZE drinks to oatmeal, so head over to Amazon and pick out your two favorites.
Zika’s officially here, and Repel 100 was your pick for the best bug spray to protect yourself. If you haven’t picked up a bottle yet, and you have something else you’ve been meaning to buy, Amazon’s marked it down to an all-time low $6 (from $8) as an add-on item.
Since iOS devices don’t let you use microSD cards for extra storage, SanDisk’s iExpand could come in handy for offloading your phone’s vacation photos if you’re running low on space, or storing extra movies and TV shows for long flights. $40 also happens is the best price Amazon’s ever listed on this model, so don’t miss out.
While these wouldn’t be cost-effective for your doomsday, three or four day emergency food packs might be worth keeping around for various natural disasters you might feasibly experience in your life.
The boxes include three or four days worth of food for a single person (1,650 calories per day), and are guaranteed to last on the shelf for 30 years. All you have to do for each meal is add hot water. Just note that this is a Gold Box deal, meaning these prices are only available today, or until sold out.
The Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition must have been a real flop, because it’s selling for just $28 on Amazon today, an all-time low by $10, and miles and miles from its original $100.
That gets you the game, limited edition packaging, dossiers, the Halo: The Fall of Reach animated series, requisition packs, a Metal Earth Guardian model, and more. This was certainly not the best Halo game, but it’s still worth playing if you’ve enjoyed the rest of the series.
You know the little charging brick that came with your phone? Throw it out, and spend $7 on this replacement from Aukey (with code AUKEY12W). It’s basically the same size as Apple’s standard iPhone charger, but it includes two ports, folding prongs, and 2.4A of current (instead of 1A) to charge your devices faster.
Here’s a plot twist for you: You can save a bunch on Kindles, Fire TVs, Amazon Echoes, and more today, courtesy of...Best Buy? These price drops are right in line with what we’d expect to see from Amazon on Black Friday or Prime Day, so if you’re in the market for a new Amazon gadget, there’s no reason to skip this sale.
Note: Only the white model on this Amazon listing is the new controller. The other color options are the old model.
The Xbox One S gamepad improves on the original with a textured grip, double the range, and most importantly, Bluetooth, meaning you can connect it to your PC without an adapter.
If you don’t need the latest and greatest Xbox One S, Best Buy will sell you one of three previous-generation Xbox One bundles and a 50" Sharp Roku TV for a flat $500 right now, or $100 less than buying both separately. I paid that much for an Xbox One with no games (and obviously, no TV) when it came out in 2013.
You don’t need to buy a new car, or even a new stereo, to enjoy Bluetooth calling and audio streaming on the road. You just need an AUX jack and this $15 dongle.
If you don’t immediately think jeans when you think Levi’s, I think it’s time to come out of that 100 year old rock you’ve been living under. And, with BOGO 50% off denim at Levi’s when you use the code BOGO50, you’ll be able to come out of that rock wearing really great pants.
If you’re in the market for a solid mid-range gaming headset on a budget, the Logitech G430 is down to $40 today, a match for the best price we’ve seen since Black Friday.
The strip packs in 1.5 LEDs per inch, which far exceeds most competing models, and you can use the included remote to dim them or choose from over 4,000 different colors. They’re certainly not the cheapest strip lights we’ve seen, but outside of expensive Philips Hue strips, they might be the most versatile.
If you own a boat, motorcyle, RV, or even car that doesn’t get a ton of use during certain months of the year, this $15 trickle charger can keep its battery charged up and healthy, so you don’t have any nasty surprises waiting for you the next time you try to start it up. Today’s deal isn’t a huge discount, but it is the best price Amazon’s ever listed.
You might not need to use a Dremel all that often, but it’s one of those things everyone should keep in their tool box, if only for sanding wood and carving jack-o-lanterns. Luckily, Amazon’s offering a basic starter kit today for just $36, an all-time low.
The Dremel MM-20 features a variable speed motor that can spin anywhere from 10,000 to 21,000 RPM, and includes six accessories to get you started with projects all around the house.
Mpow’s super-simple motion-sensing solar outdoor lights can illuminate your yard or porch with no wiring or maintenance, and you can get one for $11, or two for $21 today on Amazon.
The Logitech G502 was your choice for best gaming mouse (though you don’t need to be a gamer to appreciate its benefits), and the upgraded Proteus Spectrum model (which includes fully adjustable backlighting) is on sale for an all-time low $60 today, matching a deal from a few weeks ago.
The marquee spec here is the DPI range of 200-12,000, adjustable on the fly. There are also five easily movable and removable weights, and 11 customizable buttons, along with the classic Logitech dual-mode scroll wheel. Mechanical microswitches and a braided cable are also nice touches.
Stocking up on basics at H&M is a no-brainer. The already low prices lend themselves to saving you a bunch of money and even if they’re cheap, they last. Right now, grab two basics tees or tank tops for only $10. It really is that simple.
We’re all probably a bit ashamed of the amount of produce we allow to spoil in the fridge, but these Rubbermaid FreshWorks containers use a few neat tricks to extend your food’s lifespan, and avoid unnecessary waste.
First, each FreshWorks product includes a “crisp tray” which elevates the food off the bottom of the container, giving moisture a place to drip, and air enough room to flow. Second and most importantly, the lids feature special filters that regulate the flow of oxygen and CO2 into and out of the containers. All told, Rubbermaid claims keeps food fresh up to 80% longer than store packaging.
By now, you should know that Anker PowerLine Lightning cables are incredibly popular, but did you know there’s another tier of cables above them? Anker’s PowerLine+ line increases the bend lifespan from 5,000 to 6,000 and adds a nylon braided exterior. Want to see one for yourself? The 3' model is available in red for $13 today, or about two bucks less than usual.
If you’ve ever thought about pulling out your blender to make a smoothie, sauce, or dip, and then held off because you didn’t want to clean 3,000 different parts, this deal is for you. The 4.3 star-rated Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender is down to $27 today on Amazon.
The big advantage here is that unlike a traditional blender, you can dip the Smart Stick into whatever container you were already using to hold your ingredients; be it a single-serve cup or a huge mixing bowl. That saves you time, and means fewer dishes to clean up once you’re done. Reviewers also say it chops through everything from fruit to ice cubes with no trouble, so it really can be a full blender replacement for most use cases.
Amazon’s free Prime Pantry shipping promotion seems to be a permanent fixture at this point, but each month brings a new slate of eligible items, and August’s have just been revealed.
As always, just add five of the items on this page to your Prime Pantry box, enter code PANTRYAUG at checkout, and the $6 shipping charge will be waived. Plus, if you happen to have a free Pantry shipping credit from accepting no rush shipping on a previous Amazon order, it should stack, granting you an additional $6 discount.
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Do you notice anything weird about this ad for the new season of Supergirl that’s coming out in October on the CW network? Look closer...
Yeah, that’s unfortunate. Too bad the dozens of people at CW didn’t catch that, right? Well, as Buzzfeed points out, the ad is completely fake.
The original ad simply reads “Superman is coming to Supergirl,” not “Superman is coming in Supergirl.”
The creator of the original ad appears to have taken the alterations quite personally:
Given the lifespan of Thing on the Internet™, it’s tough to say when things “die.” In a sense, the altered version of the poster will probably live on forever. But in another way, the altered version will probably be yesterday’s news by midnight.
Either way, if you see this one online, let people know that it’s too good to be true.
Look, the X-Files revival season was incredibly rocky. It had one high, a couple of lows, and mostly some mediocre middles. It was a cash grab based on nostalgia and, yeah, we watched it. But don’t try to defend it.
Fox entertainment president David Madden said this:
I actually think that the season, the six episodes, were strong. We worked hard with [creator Chris Carter]. The episodes represent Chris and his team’s vision. Everybody reads what they read, but if we have the opportunity to do more episodes, we will take our cue from Chris and his team and I think that there was some very strong work the previous season and we look forward to more.
Oh god, please do not take your cue from Chris Carter. Carter is the worst part of the X-Files team. His episodes in the revival were the worst ones. The best one was from someone else who wasn’t trying to make sense of the mythology. He should get all the credit in the world for creating the show and assembling this staff, but, in terms of writing, Carter is not the way to go.
Madden continued:
I would just add that the show was off the air for a very long time and was introduced to a variety of new viewers. There was still a lot of time to cover in these six episodes so they had the challenge of filling in the mythology and explaining where the characters were and how they got to where they are at the start of the six episodes. I think going forward there won’t be the same obligation to reset the series, but I will tell you that on our social platforms, the chatter is overwhelmingly positive and the fans want more episodes.
Yes, because the mythology was always a mess. When there were a lot of episodes, it was easier to hide. If they keep making short seasons, they’re going to keep running into this problem.
Also, the reason people want more episodes isn’t because these six were good. It’s because we love these characters and we want to see them come back in good episodes. We’re going to keep asking you to try.
Madden concluded by saying, basically, that it was all fine because even though some reviewers didn’t like it, some did: “I did read some negative reviews and I also saw some glowing reviews. So, like with most shows, I thought it was very mixed.” The whole show was mixed. Learn from your mistakes if you’re going to do this again. Which, of course, Madden claims they are “working hard” to do.
We all can’t be as lucky as Jim Lee, apparently—who, aside from being a famous and extremely talented comics artist, also got Mark Hamill to do his finest Joker bit for Lee’s voicemail inbox. It’s amazing.
Lee shared the brilliant recording Hamill did for his phone on Instagram recently, and it’s well worth a listen if you’re fond of the manic, cackling tones of Hamill’s take on the Clown Prince of Crime. Check it out:
I’d struggle to keep a straight face leaving a message after hearing that, honestly—whether it’d be from laughter or sudden shock at hearing the Joker on the other end of the line.
Not all scary movies are actually all that scary so what is it about the best scary movies that make them so much more terrifying than the rest? It’s in the editing.
Now You See It shows us how great horror filmmakers can make a scary scene stand out by slowly building out the suspense in a terrifyingly uncomfortable scene. It’s that extra second they spend on a shot, that camera angle they use, and the environment in which it’s set that makes a scene genuinely scary.
But too often, filmmakers use a bunch of quick and sudden cuts to scare us. That only adds up to a bunch of little scares versus one really big scare. To illustrate his point, he shows a scene from a current horror movie Lights Out and the original short film it was based on. The short film held a shot longer, showed a different camera angle, and put the scene inside the actress’ home. The theatrical release didn’t build up the scare enough, never showed the haunting perspective that the ‘monster’ sees, and places the scene inside some random creepy warehouse.
After you watch both, it’s obvious that the short film definitely had the scarier scene even if it was done with a much lower budget. Check it out below.
After 27 seasons and almost 600 episodes, you’d think The Simpsons had done everything. But in its upcoming 28th season, the iconic animated show is doing something for the first time ever: an episode that’s a full hour long.
At the TCA Summer Press Tour, Fox announced that the upcoming season will include a one-hour (with commercials) hip-hop Great Gatsby episode called The Great Phatsby. It’ll feature the voices of Taraji P. Henson and Keegan-Michael Key and center on Mr. Burns meeting a hip-hop mogul named Jay G.
“This was just going to be a regular episode, but the table read went so well, in a fit of passion and excitement and ambition and excess, we decided to supersize it,” Simpsons executive producer Matt Selman told Entertainment Weekly. “And we haven’t done a huge amount of stories in the world of hip-hop and rap culture, so we just went for it.”
The Great Phatsbsy, the longest episode of The Simpsons ever, airs in January.
The executive producers of Fox’s show Gotham confirmed Monday that Suicide Squad characters Harley Quinn and Killer Croc are coming to the show. When and how, however, is slightly less exciting.
Apparently, Harley and Croc will show up a “proto” versions of themselves, very much like all the other villains on the show. They’ll be younger and have the characteristics of the iconic villains they eventually become, but won’t actually look like them.
“A lot of those characters, because they’re in Suicide Squad, you’re not going to be seeing them this season,” said executive producer John Stephens. “We’ll be seeing proto-versions of some of those characters. We’ll see a proto Killer Croc version. And we’ll be seeing a character, perhaps not this season but in times to come, who can be a forerunner of Harley Quinn which will be fun.”
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Like the original Evolution, the Evolution Cool is made of memory foam, and wraps all the way around your neck to provide support if your head nods off to the side while you’re traveling. The key difference is the integrated vent running along the middle of the pillow, which should keep your neck from getting too sweaty.
If you have any long trips on the horizon, you can save 20% on all four colors today with promo code LBYL79GJ. Cabeau’s pillows never go on sale, so if you’ve had one on your wish list, this is a great opportunity.
$30 today gets you an Eneloop Power Pack, complete with eight AAs, two AAAs, two C and D spacers, and a charger. That’s about $7-$10 less than usual, and within a couple bucks of an all-time low. Whenever this deal pops up, it tends to sell out within hours, so don’t miss out.
By now, most of you probably have a USB battery pack or two to keep your phones charged, and that’s great! But I’m willing to bet most of them won’t start your car if its battery dies.
The $59 Anker compact car jump starter has your standard pair of USB ports and a 10,000mAh built-in battery, but it also ships with a set of removable jumper cables to jolt your car’s engine to life in a pinch. Once you’re up and running, it’ll even recharge itself via an included 15V car charger, so it never even has to leave your glove box.
Hopefully you don’t need to use this often, but it’s one of those things you’ll be really glad you bought when the time comes. This particular model has been a little cheaper during a couple of Amazon Gold Boxes, but today’s price is still well below its usual $70-$80.
This 20V Worx string trimmer isn’t the most powerful model out there, but it should get the job done for most normal yards, and it critically includes two batteries (roughly 20 minutes each) and a charger for just $80.
Can’t wait for fall? Neither can Sperry. They’re marking down their fall styles to $75 for both men and women. So if you need a new pair of boat shoes, now the chance to grab a pair for $20 off.
Amazon’s currently offering several colors and sizes for $119, or about $11 off its MSRP. No, that’s not a huge deal, but it’s about as good as you’re likely to see these days.
Lärabars are great for starting your day or fueling up on the go, and Amazon’s taking an extra 25% off when you buy various multipacks as part of a back-to-school promotion. Just pick your favorite flavor, and you should see the extra savings at checkout.
The SoundCore Sport features 10 hours of battery life, a built-in microphone for handsfree calls, and impressive IPX7 water resistance. There are plenty of IPX4 or IPX5 speakers out there that can handle a splash, but this thing could fall into your bathtub and come out completely unscathed.
We’ve shared lots of deals on 32 and 64GB flash drives that include microUSB plugs for your Android devices before, but here’s one on a massive 128GB model. In case you haven’t seen these yet, they’re perfect for storing videos to watch on your tablet during a long flight, or sharing large amounts of vacation photos from your phone without using a computer.
Amazon’s currently offering several colors and sizes for $119, or about $11 off its MSRP. No, that’s not a huge deal, but it’s about as good as you’re likely to see these days.
If you’re trying to keep an eye on your blood pressure, Amazon will sell you this Omron 10 Series electronic monitor today for $48, an all-time low. This monitor has a 4.3 star review average on over 3,000 reviews, and includes both a wireless monitor that can store your last 100 readings, and Bluetooth connectivity so you can store unlimited readings on your smartphone (including Apple HealthKit).
Not to stress you out, but this is a Gold Box deal, meaning the price is only available today, or until sold out.
No Man’s Sky, $48 for Prime members. Discount shown at checkout.
There’s a little-known indie game called No Man’s Sky out today on PS4, and if you have Prime, you can snag a copy for $48 (discount shown at checkout).
In case you weren’t aware, this 20% video game discount is available for Prime members on all preorder and new release games (physical copies only), out to two weeks post-release. So if you’re ready to take off an explore the universe, this is an easy way to save $12.
Only luddites use tape measures anymore. This laser distance measurer takes instant distance readings that are accurate to within 1/16 of an inch, and includes several built-in area calculation functions, in case you’re a little rusty on your middle school math.
You can never have enough Lightning cables, and Inateck is offering you a great chance to stock up today. $5 (with code U6PDB6VE) is a solid price on a standard 3' cable from a reputable manufacturer, but $7 is really enticing for 6'.
Update: You can also get a pair of 6' Anker Powerline Lightning cables today for $20 with promo code ANKERBS2. That’s more expensive than just buying a pair of Inateck 6' cables, but Anker’s are wrapped in kevlar, and won our Kinja Co-Op.
USB-C is slowly taking over the charging world, and you can manage the transition with a two-pack of USB-C to USB-A cables for just $9 with code 7ZCMJZ5D, which in the very recent past would have been a good price for just one of these cords.
This is a brand new Amazon listing, so there aren’t any reviews yet, but Inateck is a well-known and reliable manufacturer of charging gear, so I don’t think you need to be concerned.
We’ve seen our fair share of sub-$20 Bluetooth speakers, but not many of them can join you in the shower. The Omaker M4 can do just that thanks to its IP54-rated splash resistance, and still deliver up to 12 hours of playtime on a single charge. That’s perfect if you like to sing in the shower, or just need to catch up on your ever-expanding podcast backlog.
You spend 1/3 of your life in contact with a pillow, so it had better be a good one. This Langria bed pillow is stuffed with chunks of shredded memory foam, and it can be yours for only $24 today with code BACKTOSS. Don’t sleep on this deal.
You never want to be in a situation where you need a solar and hand crank-powered weather radio with a flashlight and USB port for charging your phone, but when you can get one for $18, you probably should buy it just in case.
The thing that’s really frustrating me about No Man’s Sky is that I bought an Xbox One, so I can’t play it. If you’re in the same boat, this $280 console deal is about as cheap as PS4s ever get. Just note that you won’t get any bundled games.
Amazon bills this buy two and save $5 promotion as a back to school special, but I’m not going back to school anytime soon, and I would still love to buy some of these snacks. Eligible products include everything from Lays chips to Starbucks Refreshers to oatmeal, so head over to Amazon and pick out your two favorites.
Since iOS devices don’t let you use microSD cards for extra storage, SanDisk’s iXpand could come in handy for offloading your phone’s vacation photos if you’re running low on space, or storing extra movies and TV shows for long flights. $40 also happens is the best price Amazon’s ever listed on this model, so don’t miss out.
The Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition must have been a real flop, because it’s selling for just $28 on Amazon today, an all-time low by $10, and miles and miles from its original $100.
That gets you the game, limited edition packaging, dossiers, the Halo: The Fall of Reach animated series, requisition packs, a Metal Earth Guardian model, and more. This was certainly not the best Halo game, but it’s still worth playing if you’ve enjoyed the rest of the series.
You know the little charging brick that came with your phone? Throw it out, and spend $7 on this replacement from Aukey (with code AUKEY12W). It’s basically the same size as Apple’s standard iPhone charger, but it includes two ports, folding prongs, and 2.4A of current (instead of 1A) to charge your devices faster.
Note: Only the white model on this Amazon listing is the new controller. The other color options are the old model.
The Xbox One S gamepad improves on the original with a textured grip, double the range, and most importantly, Bluetooth, meaning you can connect it to your PC without an adapter.
You don’t need to buy a new car, or even a new stereo, to enjoy Bluetooth calling and audio streaming on the road. You just need an AUX jack and this $15 dongle.
If you’re in the market for a solid mid-range gaming headset on a budget, the Logitech G430 is down to $40 today, a match for the best price we’ve seen since Black Friday.
The strip packs in 1.5 LEDs per inch, which far exceeds most competing models, and you can use the included remote to dim them or choose from over 4,000 different colors. They’re certainly not the cheapest strip lights we’ve seen, but outside of expensive Philips Hue strips, they might be the most versatile.
If you own a boat, motorcyle, RV, or even car that doesn’t get a ton of use during certain months of the year, this $15 trickle charger can keep its battery charged up and healthy, so you don’t have any nasty surprises waiting for you the next time you try to start it up. Today’s deal isn’t a huge discount, but it is the best price Amazon’s ever listed.
The Logitech G502 was your choice for best gaming mouse (though you don’t need to be a gamer to appreciate its benefits), and the upgraded Proteus Spectrum model (which includes fully adjustable backlighting) is on sale for an all-time low $60 today, matching a deal from a few weeks ago.
The marquee spec here is the DPI range of 200-12,000, adjustable on the fly. There are also five easily movable and removable weights, and 11 customizable buttons, along with the classic Logitech dual-mode scroll wheel. Mechanical microswitches and a braided cable are also nice touches.
By now, you should know that Anker PowerLine Lightning cables are incredibly popular, but did you know there’s another tier of cables above them? Anker’s PowerLine+ line increases the bend lifespan from 5,000 to 6,000 and adds a nylon braided exterior. Want to see one for yourself? The 3' model is available in red for $13 today, or about two bucks less than usual.
Mpow’s super-simple motion-sensing solar outdoor lights can illuminate your yard or porch with no wiring or maintenance, and you can get one for $11, or two for $21 today on Amazon.
Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more, and don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter. We want your feedback.
In case the title wasn’t clear. In case writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson’s statements that this would be the last weren’t clear. In case the actors saying it was the last one weren’t clear. In case all of those things were missed, the international trailer has got you covered.
“We’ve played a long game you and I, but now it’s over,” says Dr. Alexander Isaacs, who is probably going to be showing up in flashbacks, given what happened to him. “My name is Alice and this is my story. The end of my story,” says our protagonist. And the international title of the movie? Biohazard: The Final. THIS IS IT, THE LAST ONE, GET IT?
The biggest twist would be if Iain Glen actually played two characters in this movie, Dr. Isaacs and Jorah Mormont. And that one of them treated the other.
The first trailer from Arrival, Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the Ted Chiang short story Story Of Your Lifeis finally here. It looks like an Oscar contender wrapped in a high-concept blockbuster package, which is a way to say it looks great.
Paramount Pictures is releasing the film, which stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker, on November 11. A full trailer comes out next week but, for now, check this out.
And if you don’t get the premise from the trailer, here’s the official description:
When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team - lead by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) - are brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers – and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.
Arrival, formerly Story of Your Life, opens November 11.
