Author Archives: Carol Edwards

If you’ve already blown through your Netflix and Hulu libraries, maybe it’s time to give Paramount+ a spin. Since Paramount has been making movies since 1916, its catalog of films is deep. Seriously. Imagine John Wayne Westerns on the same streamer as Sonic the Hedgehog! It’s madness, and we love it. Movies forever!

Below, 14 of our favorite movies from Paramount’s library to watch now on Paramount+.

1. Bridget Jones’s Diary

Bridget Jones’s Diary is a perfect movie, and we’re not hearing any opinions to the contrary, thank you! Renée Zellweger gained 20 pounds to snag the role of Bridget, already a beloved character in the UK thanks to Helen Fielding’s wildly popular Bridget Jones novels. The Brits were in an uproar about an American being cast in a role that was archetypally British, but Zellweger’s performance (and accent!) were so spot-on, the complaints quickly gave way to rave reviews.

The start of a film franchise, and the best movie of the lot, Bridget Jones’s Diary introduces us to an ordinary 30-something woman in London who, after turning 32 alone, vows to lose weight, quit smoking, stop drinking, and find love. Enter Hugh Grant as Bridget’s preternaturally charming boss, and, because this is a Pride and Prejudice adaptation after all, Colin Firth as the man who couldn’t seem more wrong for Bridget (his name is literally Mr. Darcy!!!). Even if you know where this funny and grounded rom-com is going, you’re sure to have a blast along the way.

How to watch: Bridget Jones’s Diary is now streaming on Paramount+.

2. A Quiet Place 

Stay very quiet.
Credit: Jonny Cournoyer/Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock

John Krasinski went from actor to celebrated director with this spine-tingling 2018 hit. Starring opposite his real-life wife Emily Blunt, The Office star plays a farmer dedicated to protecting his family from killer creatures that hunt by sound. This clever premise means the movie’s characters can’t scream, because such a sound would definitely be their last. That means your own sounds of terror are weaponized while watching, crashing into the silent soundscape that’s suffocating in tension.

Ruthlessly paced and keenly realized, A Quiet Place is a superbly scary thrill ride. But what makes it top-tier are the poignant performances by Krasinski, Blunt, and their onscreen children, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe. Together, they make a family-frightening feature that’s perfect for a quiet night at home. And if you dare to double-feature, the spooky sequel, A Quiet Place: Part II, is also available. — Kristy Puchko, Deputy Entertainment Editor *

How to watch: A Quiet Place is now streaming on Paramount+.

3. Flight 

When his plane suffers a mechanical failure that threatens to doom the flight, airline pilot William “Whip” Whitaker manages a miraculous landing that saves the lives of everyone on board. At first, he’s hailed as a hero, but when an investigation into the incident reveals new details, his heroism is called into question. Denzel Washington received an Academy Award nomination for his extraordinary portrayal of a flawed and complex man in this Robert Zemeckis-directed drama. Flight is a meaty and exciting film, a character study that keeps us on the edge of our seats. Just… don’t watch it on a plane, OK? That would not be a smart thing to do.

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

4. Election

Never forget that Reese Witherspoon wasn’t always America’s beaming sweetheart. In Alexander Payne’s vicious high-school political satire, she’s Tracy Flick, the terrifyingly ambitious overachiever willing to do whatever it takes to win the race for student body president. Matthew Broderick shook off the long shadow of Ferris Bueller to play the embittered teacher who just can’t stand to see her sail to the success she thinks she deserves, and slowly drives himself mad trying to get in her way. More than 20 years (and several bruising election cycles) later, its edges are as sharp as ever. — Caitlin Welsh, Entertainment Reporter *

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

5. To Catch a Thief

Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in “To Catch a Thief.”
Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

An Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece, To Catch a Thief is a half-suspense, half-romance whodunnit against a sparkling Mediterranean backdrop. Cary Grant is smooth as ever as John Robie, a reformed jewel thief now living a quiet life in the French Riviera. But when a string of new robberies puts him under suspicion, he’ll have to find the real culprit before he takes the blame. 

Grace Kelly is literally glowing in this film, playing one of the rich tourists whose belongings were stolen, and her sumptuous Edith Head costumes are truly iconic. To Catch a Thief is one of those gorgeous classics where no one has a job and everyone speaks in witty double entendres. It’s a mischievous, flirtatious movie that makes you want to put on an enormous hat and move to Monaco — which is what Grace Kelly did: It was during the production of Thief that she met her future husband, the Prince of Monaco!

How to watch: To Catch a Thief is now streaming on Paramount+.

6. Hugo

Hugo Cabret (Sex Education‘s Asa Butterfield, but your kids don’t know that!) lives alone in a Paris train station, trying to understand mysteries left behind by his late father (Jude Law), including a robot that can write with a pen. Hugo befriends Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz) in a shared thirst for adventure which takes them through her godfather’s past and love for film — slowly but surely piecing together what connects them all to each other. Nothing like getting the youngins hooked on Martin Scorsese! — Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter *

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

7. Escape from Alcatraz

Based on an audacious real-life jailbreak, this classic action film stars Clint Eastwood as a convict as tough as he is clever. Frank Morris has a long list of offenses and a string of escapes on his record. So as soon as he arrives at a high-security prison, he’s searching for a way out. But the prison’s bars, guards, and regulations aren’t the greatest obstacle.

Alcatraz sits on an island far off the shore of San Francisco. Can Frank and his friends (Paul Benjamin, Jack Thibeau, Fred Ward, and Larry Hankin) make their way to freedom through the freezing waters on a homemade (well, cell-made) raft? Director Don Siegel brings a snarling edge to this tense tale of hardened men, yearning for freedom. — K.P. *

How to watch: Escape from Alcatraz is now streaming on Paramount+.

8. Arrival

Amy Adam teaches aliens English.
Credit: Shutterstock

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill alien flick. Arrival is a moody, complex science fiction drama where 12 extraterrestrial ships land across the globe… and wait. Countries scramble to make contact, to decipher meaning from the aliens’ presence. Enter Amy Adams as Louise Banks, a linguist assigned to study the alien’s language from their USA parking spot in Montana. The closer she comes to understanding the visitors’ intentions, the more her perception of the world around her begins to change. Arrival is scenic and existential, pairing high-concept philosophical questions with sweeping shots of the Montana plains. It’s suspenseful, provocative, and atmospheric — a winning combination for science fiction. And it goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway, Amy Adams is (as always!) at the top of her game here.

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

9. His Girl Friday

This classic screwball rom-com, adapted from the play The Front Page, sees star reporter Hildy Johnson take on one last assignment with her editor ex-husband before she gets out of the game for good to re-marry and retire to a quiet life of motherhood. If you’re a little burned out on contemporary comedy, there’s nothing better for the soul than watching a dame with moxie stalk around in gorgeous skirt suits tossing out rapid-fire banter in a Mid-Atlantic accent, and Rosalind Russell, as Hildy Johnson, does it better than just about anyone. Throw in Cary Grant as the former boss who’s still in love with her — and gives as good as he gets — and this 70-year-old film still crackles with energy and wit. — C.W. *

How to watch: His Girl Friday is now streaming on Paramount+.

10. Life is Beautiful

Looking to cry your face off? Life is Beautiful is here for you. One of the highest-grossing non-English language films of all time, this touching Italian drama, once seen, will sear itself into your memory so you clutch your heart each time you think of it. Roberto Benigni, along with directing and writing the film, stars as a young Jewish father in 1940s Italy. When his family is taken to an internment camp, he shields his son from the truth of the situation by pretending they are in a complex game, where tasks like hiding from the guards will earn him extra points. It’s a deeply affecting film, able to spark laughter and tears in equal measure. If you haven’t seen it, put it at the top of your list — and bring tissues.

How to watch: Life is Beautiful is now streaming on Paramount+.

11. Saint Maud 

In 2020, writer/helmer Rose Glass made a jaw-dropping directorial debut with this riveting psychological horror film. In a squalid seaside town, Maud (Morfydd Clark) is a pious young nurse who is fanatically dedicated to God. Hired as a private hospice caretaker for dying artist Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), Maud develops a dark fascination for her patient’s lust for life, booze, and Sapphic sex.

Their volatile bond is electric with temptation and conflict, which ignites as Maud steps up her quest to save Amanda’s soul. A battle of wills bends into the surreal as visual effects and a sound design reflect the world from Maud’s perspective. Punctuated with goosebump-pumping violence, swaddled in a sophisticated color palette of warmth and rot, and threaded by inky sexual tension, Saint Maud is uniquely intoxicating and unnerving experience that’ll leave you in horrified awe. — K.P. *

How to watch: Saint Maud is now streaming on Paramount+.

12. Mean Girls

The dreaded three-way phone call.
Credit: CBS via Getty Images

There’s a reason why, over 15 years later, we’re still joking “You can’t sit with us!!!” when our friends meet us late for dinner. Mean Girls set the standard for teen comedies in the early 2000s. The Tina Fey-penned flick was a box office behemoth when it debuted in 2004, and it shows no signs of fading out of relevance any time soon. Lindsay Lohan is Cady Heron, a formerly home-schooled teenager with no clue how to navigate the strict and punishing social hierarchy of North Shore High School. Her new friends, themselves social misfits, push her to infiltrate the popular crowd so they can ultimately take down the Queen Bee, a flawless Rachel McAdams. 

Mean Girls is hilarious, endlessly quotable, and a piercingly accurate take on the stakes of popularity in 2000s American high schools. Luckily, since “On Wednesdays, we wear pink” and “She doesn’t even go here!” have firmly taken root in our collective cultural consciousness, we can keep enjoying this gem for decades to come. 

How to watch: Mean Girls is now streaming on Paramount+.

13. Minority Report

All the best science-fiction flicks are based on Philip K. Dick stories. First Blade Runner, then Total Recall, and in 2002, the mind-warping thriller Minority Report. The year is 2054, and America has won the war on crime by instituting the “Precrime” program, which utilizes future-telling technology to arrest people before they actually commit their foretold crime. Precrime Officer John Anderton (Tom Cruise) strongly believes in the power of his department, until his name appears on the arrest list for an upcoming murder. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Minority Report  is a complex science fiction story, a gripping action movie, and a suspenseful mystery film all-in-one.

How to watch: Minority Report is now streaming on Paramount+.

14. The Conversation

Sometimes the difference between life and death can hang on a single word.

No one understands this better than surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman), who has been hired to record a conversation between a couple as they stroll around a San Francisco park. A paranoid and isolated man by nature, Harry becomes obsessed with understanding who this couple is and what they meant by what was said.

But in chasing down the motive of his mysterious client, he steps out of the shadows and into an uncomfortable spotlight. That move might be his last. A supremely suspenseful mystery, this classic from writer/director Francis Ford Coppola has wowed audiences, critics, and the Academy, boasting three Oscar nominations, including a nod for Best Picture. — K.P. *

How to watch: The Conversation is now streaming on Paramount+.

*Asterisks indicate the writeup is adapted from another Mashable article.

Bad news for Netflix fans. The streaming service is increasing prices in the U.S. and Canada. 

On Friday, Netflix quietly changed the pricing for all three subscription plans: 

• Basic plan increases $1 per month from $8.99 to $9.99

• Standard plan increases $1.50 from $13.99 to $15.49

• Premium plan goes up $2 from $17.99 to $19.99

According to the company’s website, the new prices will immediately apply to new subscribers. Existing subscribers, on the other hand, will see the price hikes gradually take effect. 

“Current members will receive an email notification 30 days before their price changes, unless they change their plan,” the streaming service says.

The last time Netflix increased prices in the U.S. was in October 2020. Prior to that, the company raised the fees in January 2019. So users might be annoyed with three recent price hikes. The price increases become especially stark if you look at them annually. A premium plan now goes for $239.88 per year while the standard plan costs $185.88 for 12 months. 

Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But in the past, the company has said the price hikes are needed to fund the original TV shows and movies the streaming service is constantly churning out. 

Netflix is also facing growing competition from other streaming providers including HBO Max, Disney+, and Amazon Video. In last year’s third quarter, Netflix reported having 213 million paying subscribers across the globe. However, user growth in U.S. and Canada has been stagnating at around 73-74 million users in recent quarters.

There’s just nothing that hits quite like great action. That raw, racing adrenaline thrusts you into the place of brave heroes, who’ve made the wild world their playground. Whether it’s tire-squealing car chases, dizzying combat, nerve-shredding escapes, heart-racing explosions, or stunt sequences so audacious they’re absolutely mind melting, we thrill seekers can’t get enough. 

So, to plot your next adventure, we’ve scoured Hulu for highlights that brandish hard-R action, wise-cracking superheroes, muscle-bound kidnappers, crossbow-wielding heroes, spell-casting villains, G.I. Joes, and a couple of nice guys.

Here are the 10 best action movies on Hulu streaming now.

1. Escape from Alcatraz

Based on an audacious real-life jailbreak, this 1979 classic action film stars Clint Eastwood as a convict as tough as he is clever. Frank Morris has a long list of offenses and a string of escapes on his record. So as soon as he arrives at a high-security prison, he’s searching for a way out. But the prison’s bars, guards, and regulations aren’t the greatest obstacle. Alcatraz sits on an island far off the shore of San Francisco. Can Frank and his friends (Paul Benjamin, Jack Thibeau, Fred Ward, and Larry Hankin) make their way to freedom through the freezing waters on a homemade (well, cell-made) raft? Director Don Siegel brings a snarling edge to this tense tale of hardened men, yearning for freedom. *

How to watch: Escape from Alcatraz is streaming on Hulu.

2. Deadpool 

Brianna Hildebrand, Ryan Reynolds and Stefan Kapicic ready for war in ‘Deadpool.”
Credit: Marvel Enterprises/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

If you’re craving absolutely bonkers humor and brazenly R-rated action, then you’ll want to meet Deadpool. Inspired by Marvel’s manic “merc with a mouth,” this outrageous 2016 action-comedy stars Ryan Reynolds as a superhero whose deadly fighting skills are matched only by his wise-cracking wit, which wounds egos and breaks the fourth wall. He’ll use both to get vengeance against the malicious Ajax (a steely Ed Skrein) and rescue the love of his life (a smirking Morena Baccarin). Directed by Tim Miller, this brash and bold romp boasts balls-to-the-wall action, brutal violence, a banging soundtrack, raunchy one-liners, and an explosive sidekick called Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). But that’s not all. Paying tribute to its iconically irreverent anti-hero, this superhero movie is also studded with kinky sex, creative curse words, chilling horror, and jokes that bring on blushes, gasps, and guffaws.

How to watch: Deadpool is streaming on Hulu. 

3. Pain & Gain 

Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg, and Anthony Mackie pursue fitness and finance.
Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock

Not just a great action movie, this is the best movie that action auteur Michael Bay has ever made. There aren’t giant battling robots or end-of-the-world circumstances. Instead, Bay found enthralling inspiration in a truly bizarre true crime case. This dizzying 2013 thrill ride centers on a trio of muscle-bound meatheads, who saw themselves as cutthroat entrepreneurs. All they had to do was pull off a kidnapping and extortion plot. But when you’re more brawn than brains, things can go from bad to bloody to totally FUBAR very fast.

Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, and Anthony Mackie star as a trio of bodybuilders with crime on their minds. An apoplectic Tony Shalhoub plays their target, a surly sandwich tycoon, while Ed Harris saddles up as the detective hot on their trail. Together, they build barking laughs from this stranger-than-fiction story. But beneath the dark comedy, chase scenes, violence, and mayhem, Bay has bled a robust criticism of American ambition. 

How to watch: Pain & Gain is streaming on Hulu. 

4. The Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence is Katniss Everdeen.
Credit: Lionsgate/Kobal/Shutterstock

Based on the bestselling dystopian novels from Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games franchise began with this scorching 2012 release, directed by Gary Ross. Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen, a poverty-stricken teen archer, whose skills are meant for hunting game. But when the tyrannical Capitol demands children compete in a kill-or-be-killed battle royale, her bow and arrow find new targets. Pulled from her humble home, Katniss is pitched into a dazzling realm of glamor, fame, and excess, all leading up to the titular, televised, and terrible Games.

Along the way, she’ll make allies and enemies, wow the judges and audiences with her indomitable spirit, and give hope to a people long oppressed by a cavalier and cruel ruling class. Though violence against children is core to this concept, the PG-13 rated action-adventure skirts blood and blurs blows. So, this selection can work for much of the family. With all four Hunger Games movies currently streaming, you can make it a marathon. May the odds be ever in your favor. 

How to watch: The Hunger Games is streaming on Hulu. 

5. The Warriors 

Warriors from Coney Island represent.
Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock

“Warriors, come out to play-yay!”

This grungy action-thriller movie from 1979 imagined New York City as a turf marauded by fantastical gangs. There’s the Lizzies, the Orphans, the Boppers, the Rogues, the Electric Eliminators, The Baseball Furies, and many more.

After a summit turned assassination in the Bronx, they’re all gunning for the Warriors, a scrappy Coney Island crew that’s been framed. It’s a 27-mile race to safety, where every corner could boast a threat of cops or criminals on the prowl. Shot on the streets and subways of NYC, Walter Hill’s beloved action film brandishes a seedy authenticity, even if its gangland was scratching at Escape from New York extreme. This makes all the chase scenes and brawls all the more thrilling, feeling like the night from hell rolling out before us could be just a train ride away.  

How to watch: The Warriors is streaming on Hulu. 

6. 13 Assassins

Japanese director Takashi Miike had previously won international acclaim for his eye-popping and twisted thrillers, Audition and Ichi The Killer. In this celebrated 2010 film, the distinctive director created a period piece with punch, reimagining Eiichi Kudo’s 1963 samurai drama of the same name.

Set in Japan’s feudal era, this martial arts stunner centers on a motley band of warriors (including Kōji Yakusho, Hiroki Matsukata, and Takayuki Yamada), who will do whatever it takes to assassinate the malevolent Lord Naritsugu (Gorō Inagaki). In a time when computer graphics ruled action, critics cheered the verve and practical effects that Miike brought to his remake. With a grand scale, moody cinematography, and an ensemble that pitches themselves fully into every fray, 13 Assassins is more than action-packed, it’s enthralling cinema.

How to watch: 13 Assassins is streaming on Hulu.

7. Logan

Hugh Jackman returns as Wolverine (aka Logan).
Credit: Ben Rothstein/Marvel/Kobal/Shutterstock

Over a string of X-Men movies, Hugh Jackman sliced and snarled as the ever-healing yet still wounded Wolverine. Then, in 2017, writer-director James Mangold dared to dream where this haunted hero might end up much further down the road.

In Logan, Jackman returns as an older, beaten-down version of the rough-and-tough superhero. He’s covered in scars. His invincibility is fading and he’s flat broke. But when called upon to rescue a young girl (Dafne Keen) from a ruthless band of mercenaries, Logan will rise to play the hero one last time. What he doesn’t see coming is that this kid isn’t some helpless damsel, but a warrior in her own right. Together, they’ll bare their claws in a battle for a brighter tomorrow. Rich with R-rated action, heart-breaking stakes, and sharp social commentary, Logan is a superhero movie that urged audiences to demand more of the genre. 

How to watch: Logan is streaming on Hulu. 

8. The Nice Guys

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe are “The Nice Guys.”
Credit: Misty Mountains/Bloom/Silver/Kobal/Shutterstock

Long before he was writing/directing daring action movies like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3, Shane Black made his mark on Hollywood by penning the seminal buddy-cop comedy Lethal Weapon. This 2016 action-comedy film is a thrilling throwback to his roots, starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as a mismatched duo determined to solve a twisted mystery.

In 1970s Los Angeles, Holland March (Gosling) is a washed-up private eye that’s got more bruises than bank. Jackson Healy (Crowe) is a rugged enforcer, who has got a soft spot for dames in trouble. So, despite their differences, they’ll team up to track down a mysterious missing girl. Along the way, they cross paths with wild turns, bursts of violence, sultry bombshells, barrages of mayhem, and explosively outrageous humor.

How to watch: The Nice Guys is streaming on Hulu.

9. G.I. Joe: Retaliation 

Science-fiction, action, and military muscle come out to play in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, a sequel that doesn’t care if you saw the first film.

The Hasbro action figures are brought to life by a star-studded cast, which includes Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Ray Stevenson, Adrianne Palicki, and Byung-hun Lee. There’ll be intrigue, bombings, and a bevy of battles, with director Jon M. Chu making the most of every moment. So not only will ninjas battle while suspended down the side of an impossibly steep mountain but also there’s be a punch so powerful that it can bat away bullets. If that’s not enough promise of fun for you, how about the hilarious bonus that is Jonathan Pryce as a villain who gleefully relishes evil overthrows? Okay, how about the Joes have been disavowed, yet need to save America from a Cobra coup?

How to watch: G.I. Joe: Retaliation is streaming on Hulu.

10. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 

Gemma Arterton and Jeremy Renner are Gretel and Hansel.
Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock

Want something exciting with a fairytale flourish? Then you’ll cherish this outrageous R-rated film from 2013, which not only offers action and fantasy but also ghoulish horror.

Directed by Dead Snow helmer Tommy Wirkola, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters re-imagines the classic Grimm tale as one about two vengeance-driven siblings, dedicated to eliminating the magical scourge that makes meals out of children. Wearing matching smirks, Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton star as the titular brother-sister team. They wield crossbows and firearms with deadly accuracy and gory results. But with a massive coven coming for them, they’ll need killer snares, quirky sidekicks, and some magic of their own. Along with bursts of action, Wirkola unveils a rich treasure trove of creepy witch designs that will have horror fans squealing. So, forget historical accuracy, embrace lunacy, and enjoy a realm where witches rule, trolls drool, and Hansel and Gretel are merciless ass-kickers

How to watch: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is streaming on Hulu. 

*This blurb appeared on a previous Mashable list.

Emily St. John Mandel did not set out to kill 99.99 percent of the human race when she began writing Station Eleven. The 2014 bestseller, on which the acclaimed (and now complete) HBO Max series is based, started as a series of scenes about a traveling band of performers much like her real-life friends from dance theater school in Toronto. She pictured them performing Shakespeare in rural Canada, where she grew up; a hard but good life without many of the comforts of modern technology.

But what would send Shakespearean actors permanently to the woods, performing plays for tech-free towns? Well, the same thing that leads the hero of The Postman (a similar 1985 novel by David Brin, also a 1997 movie starring Kevin Costner) to travel around doing Shakespeare for shanty-town audiences: the end of civilization. Both stories are fundamentally optimistic in their visions of a world rebuilding — but both required their authors to reverse-engineer a backstory of how and why billions of us had died.

The mechanism Mandel happened to choose was a pandemic, unaware that a real one would strike six years after she wrote Station Eleven. (The HBO series was also commissioned long before anyone uttered the words COVID-19.) But audiences are wiser now. We are more aware of how hard it is to kill off that much of our world with a virus, even one that mutates. The faster it kills its hosts, the less it can spread. “The virus in Station Eleven would have burned out before it could kill off the entire population,” Mandel freely admitted toVulture in March 2020.

Given that we’ve logged all the potential civilization-killing asteroids, given that climate change is a persistent, present crisis best represented metaphorically (as in Don’t Look Up), creators are running out of ways to end the world as briskly and cleanly as our apocalypse fantasies seem to demand. Mandel wanted an event that would guarantee a blank canvas, a “20 years after” filled with the joy of everlasting art as much as the sorrow of unspeakable trauma. She may end up as the last writer who could do so in a fashion her contemporaries found believable. Station Eleven could mark the end of the end of the world.

For The Postman, Brin chose nuclear war, the most likely apocalypse anyone could see in 1985; by Mandel’s era, the bomb was pretty much off the table for anyone trying to suspend our disbelief. Not only have we seen more fictional postwar worlds than you can shake a geiger counter at, we’re also more aware now of the ways such an environment would continue to harm us. Even a limited nuclear exchange could blot out the sun, cause widespread famine, and poison the atmosphere with radiation for generations to come.

Pandemics were, in 2014, the most reliable method of clean fictional genocide left standing. Still, few authors have dared to use them to kill off as much of the human race as Mandel does. In my March 2020 survey of the genre, I identified just four — the most famous being Stephen King’s epic The Stand, in which the bio-engineered bug known as Captain Trips kills a mere 99.4 percent of humanity. Only one author has dared to kill a higher percentage of humanity — Mary Shelley in The Last Man (1826) — and she gave her virus seven years to do its job.

Station Eleven‘s Georgia flu is a super-fast-spreading highly mutated virus that somehow manages to kill nearly all 7-plus billion humans in three weeks. Wisely, Mandel didn’t expend much effort explaining how it could do that. She spends only a handful of early chapters in the pandemic era. We see the world collapse from the perspective of Jeevan Chaudhary, who only knows what he sees on TV while locked down in his brother’s Chicago apartment. We suspend our disbelief in large part because news anchors freak out and flee the studio.

Kirsten (Matilda Lawler and Mackenzie Davis) remembers the first few days of Georgia flu with Frank (Nabhaan Rizwan) and Javeen (Himesh Patel)
Credit: Ian Watson / HBO Max

Similarly, the HBO version of Station Eleven offers very little information on Georgia flu. Because it jumps around in time even more than the book, and focuses even more on delightful creative distractions (such as young Kirsten writing a play based on the “Station Eleven” graphic novel), the show gives us very little time to consider the believability of its background apocalypse. One TV voice tells us that the virus “doesn’t incubate, it explodes.” But if you’re looking for a true epidemiological nightmare, what you need is a deadly and highly transmissible virus that does incubate for a long time — a month or two, say — so we can spread it far and wide via air travel before anyone starts to show symptoms.

Now that we’ve been through the COVID-19 wringer, one of the least believable aspects of Station Eleven is that so many people instantly trust what experts are saying. In fact, denial has a stronger grip on the human mind than any of us suspected. Jim (Tim Simons, aka Jared in Veep), the hapless business colleague of “Station Eleven” creator Miranda, may be the the most believable character in the show — because when the deadly virus hits his hotel in Malaysia, he responds by playing golf.

On the flip side, we have our experiences with lockdowns, border closings, and other measures that, though imperfect, successfully slowed the spread of COVID and its Delta and Omicron variants (in some countries more than others). The show gives us just one example of a large group of virus-free people who successfully institute a lockdown against Georgia flu: the passengers at Severn City airport. Their self-imposed isolation works, and the solar-powered airport becomes home to the Museum of Civilization.

Surely, though, there would be many more such lockdown locations — probably enough to keep essential infrastructure like electricity and the internet intact (especially in the age of solar panels and wind farms), definitely enough to boost humanity’s survival rate far beyond the 0.01 percent level. Surely communities the world over would do what villages in Sierra Leone did to help contain the Ebola outbreak of 2015: isolate themselves, preventing anyone entering or leaving. We are more resilient, more collaborative, and more willing to stay put for a good cause, than Station Eleven would have us think.

But perhaps the greatest lesson COVID-19 has to teach Station Eleven is that you don’t need to kill 99.99 percent of humanity to create generational trauma. This virus has killed 5.5 million people in two years, which is way less than 0.1 percent of the global population, and we who lived through it will never forget it. It has not provided the blank canvas on which to build a new civilization that we seem to crave. You’ll have to build your geodesic dome-filled intentional community at Burning Man if you can’t find anywhere in the Michigan wilderness to do it. But either way, you’ll still have to deal with the messy, imperfect, capitalism-filled world as it is.

Shudder’s Hellbender is a family affair.

The independent horror film is entirely written, directed, produced, scored, and edited by the Adams family: mother Toby Poser, father John Adams, and daughter Zelda Adams. The three also star in the film, alongside daughter/sister Lulu Adams.

Hellbender tells the story of Izzy (Zelda Adams), a 16-year-old girl whose rare illness keeps her isolated with her mother (Toby Poser). Bored of the woods, Izzy tries to break free of her confines by befriending another girl (Lulu Adams). But a game in which she eats a live worm upends her new happiness. With a violent hunger awakening within her, Izzy must delve into her family’s dark past and uncover powerful secrets.

Hellbender hits Shudder Feb. 24.

Lazzarini Design Studio dreamed up a concept for the ultimate luxury yacht experience in the sky.

Forbes released its list of the top 10 highest-earning YouTube creators and, for the third year in a row, the only woman on the list is a 7-year-old who makes way more than me.

Anastasia Radzinskaya, better known as Nastya, has upwards of 100 million subscribers across her 11 YouTube channels, and Forbes reports she made an estimated $28 million in 2021 through ad revenue and brand deals. Viewers follow along as she learns basic skills, like telling time and making a to-do list, against the highly saturated backdrop of her enormous home. Meanwhile, I write my silly little stories in an apartment the size of her patio.

The no. 1 earner was 23-year-old Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, whose “$456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!” video has racked up 202 million views in less than two months since its release. He reportedly made $54 million. He also spearheaded 2021’s international #TeamSeas fundraiser, which raised more than $30 million to clean up the ocean.

MrBeast staged a massive ‘Squid Game’ set replica to recreate the hit Netflix drama.
Credit: YouTube.com/MrBeast

Also on the list is 10-year-old toy king Ryan Kaji, controversial brothers Jake and Logan Paul, variety show pros Rhett and Link, trick shot magicians Dude Perfect, and gamers Preston Plays and Markiplier, who has made the list every year since 2016. The only newcomer to the top 10 is Unspeakable, who makes less expensive MrBeast-esque challenges like “Last to Leave the Pond wins $10,000.”

Forbes notes that the top three earners — MrBeast, Jake Paul, and Markiplier — all made enough that they would have nabbed a spot on the brand’s most recent list of the world’s highest-paid celebrities. It makes you wonder: what will it take for YouTube creators to be considered mainstream celebs? Paul makes 90 percent of his income from boxing, and rarely posts on YouTube anymore. Boxers like Tyson Fury and Canelo Alvarez made the celebrity list, so why not Paul?

It’s also hard to ignore the overwhelming number of white men on the list (Dude Perfect alone has five), a trend we’ve seen every year since Forbes started tracking these statistics. The last time a woman other than Nastya made the list was in 2017, when Lilly Singh clenched the no. 10 spot. In 2018, there weren’t any women on the list at all.

Sometimes there are places you know, even if you don’t know them.

Like even if you’ve never been to the top of the Empire State Building — I haven’t — you could probably see an image and recognize it. There have been so many scenes in movies and TV shows set there that you’d almost have to have some idea of what it looks like.

If you’ve been on the internet for a while, then this video on Twitter from @Ballymoran will take you somewhere very recognizable. It’s a brilliant bit of Google Maps fun. Ominous music plays as you get closer, closer, closer. You’re expecting something spooky or weird. The ultimate destination, well, just watch.

Tweet may have been deleted

You’re damn right that was a rickroll in the year 2022. Why the hell not?

Old internet jokes aside, it is neat to see the real world location where the classic Rick Astley video for his 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” was shot. For years we’ve all been staring unwittingly at those brick arches. Now we know they’re at 150 Freston Road in London.

That’s the curious magic of Google Maps. The Google Earth and Street View lets you, in an instant, drop in on any place in the world. Unsuspecting, it’s all there, frozen in time. It’s a feat of ubiquity from the tech giant that we can now get rickrolled by a map.

Save $53: In the market for a home air purifier? Walmart’s got you covered with a discount on Mashable’s top pick: the Coway Mighty Air Purifier. This aesthetically pleasing choice is on sale for just $196.69 in black, $53 off its usual cost, as of Jan. 14.

Adding an air purifier to your home can help reduce dust, odors, dander, smoke, mold, bacteria, viruses, and other pollutants. And Mashable’s no. 1 pick happens to be on sale as of Jan. 14. The aesthetically pleasing Coway Mighty Air Purifier (in black) is discounted to $196.69, which is $53 off its usual cost.

Equipped with a HEPA efficiency rating of 99.97 percent and a four-way filtration system that captures particles as small as 0.3 microns in rooms up to 361 square feet, this air purifier has earned its “mighty” title. We particularly love that it comes with an energy-saving “Eco Mode,” which turns its fan off automatically when it detects 30 minutes of no pollutants. When it senses any air pollution, it cuts back on and starts cleaning again.

If you’re wondering if this mighty purifier can protect you from COVID-19, the answer is … it’s complicated. The best way to protect yourself is still to follow the CDC’s guidelines and wash your hands often, wear a mask in public settings, maintain social distance, and get vaccinated. An air purifier can help reduce airborne contaminants, like viruses, in confined spaces, but like the EPA says, it’s “not enough to protect people from COVID-19.”

Explore related content:

• 7 of the best air purifiers to deal with pets, pollen, and pollution

• Breathe easy: These are 9 of the best humidifiers for a healthier home

• Best outdoor heaters for keeping summer going all winter long

For nearly two-thirds of American high schoolers Naviance software is an integral and nearly unavoidable part of the college research and application process. For colleges and universities, it’s also a targeted advertising platform with a captive audience of millions of students looking to make one of the largest financial investments of their lives.

The Markup examined the Naviance accounts of several students who granted us access and reviewed contracts between 10 universities and Intersect, a sister company to Naviance responsible for selling advertising campaigns on the platform. We uncovered how Naviance gathers data through its college guidance software and then allows colleges and universities to target students with paid advertisements encouraging them to enroll. 

The platform allows admissions officials to select what kinds of students will see their recruiting messages based on the students’ location, academic “ability,” the majors they’re interested in, and even their race. In one instance, The Markup found a university that deliberately advertised only to White students through Naviance. Several other schools used the platform to target students of all races in some states but only White students in others.

The software has become ubiquitous in the college search process. More than 10 million students use it to submit their college applications, request teacher recommendations, and submit transcripts. They research colleges and universities using Naviance’s SuperMatch feature, which calculates a “fit score” designed to show students how well aligned they are with a particular school. 

They use the software’s scattergram feature to compare their test scores and GPAs to previously admitted students from their own high school. And they receive messages through Naviance about schools that might be good matches for them.

Some of those messages, The Markup found, are actually paid advertisements from the schools. 

“There’s some social engineering at play that feels really concerning,” said Ceceilia Parnther, a St. John’s University professor who studies higher education leadership. “I see it being an electronic form of gatekeeping.”

Naviance and Intersect are owned by PowerSchool and are key parts of an ed tech empire—largely owned by the private equity firm Vista Equity Partners—that is exerting significant influence over students from kindergarten through college graduation. 

PowerSchool declined to answer many of The Markup’s questions for this story, but in a brief email, Darron Flagg, the company’s chief compliance and privacy officer, wrote that the feature that allows colleges to target students with advertisements based on their race was phased out in 2019—two years before PowerSchool acquired the companies. 

There’s some social engineering at play that feels really concerning.”

“The Intersect product does not allow matching criteria that excludes under-represented student groups,” Flagg wrote in an email.

That statement is directly contradicted by documents The Markup obtained through public records requests.

Students The Markup spoke to for this story said they felt misled and had often been confused about why they were receiving messages through Naviance from schools in which they had expressed no interest.

“I thought the results I was getting were really weird,” said Alexandra Raphling, a senior at Santa Monica High School, in California. “They weren’t consistent with my grades, they weren’t consistent with what I put in [as search criteria].… It kind of just shows that Naviance doesn’t have the best interest of students using the software at heart.”

Race-based advertisements

In August 2021, the University of California San Diego purchased an advertising campaign through Intersect that allowed it to send targeted messages through Naviance to students who had used the platform to research competitor institutions—as designated by UC San Diego—and to “racial or ethnic minorities,” according to a contract obtained by The Markup.

The $142,000 contract includes a campaign that specifically targets “racial or ethnic minorities” in California who used Naviance to research the University of Southern California, Arizona State University, or UC Irvine.(See the documents here.)

UC San Diego declined to comment.

The contract is set to run until 2023. It was signed five months after PowerSchool acquired Naviance and two years after the race-based targeting feature was supposedly phased out.

The Markup obtained contracts showing targeted advertising campaigns from nine other universities.

In addition to their contracts, City Colleges of Chicago and Northern Illinois University provided user manuals, copyrighted 2020, that explain how school officials can pick from “diversity filters” when selecting which students will see their recruiting ads. City Colleges of Chicago also provided an Intersect demonstration video that shows a narrator selecting from a list of racial identities and unclicking a box labeled “American Indian or Alaska Native”—meaning students who identify as members of those groups would not receive recruiting messages from the school.

The Intersect website currently states that clients can use the service to “find students who fit specific demographic variables (race, ethnicity, geography, class year, attendance at an under-represented school) and present messages about your institution to students who possess those characteristics.”

When The Markup presented its findings to PowerSchool and asked about Flagg’s earlier comments, spokesperson Madeline Willman wrote in an email, “PowerSchool stands by what has been provided as factual.”

Contracts from the University of Kansas show how the targeted advertising service the companies market as a means to increase student body diversity can actually be used to do the opposite.

In 2015, for example, the university paid for a year-long Naviance advertising campaign that targeted only White students in Kansas, Texas, and Minnesota. 

That purchase occurred before PowerSchool acquired Naviance, but the University of Kansas continued to use Naviance-targeted ads through at least June 2021. The later contracts do not specify whether the school targeted students based on race, and the University of Kansas did not respond to requests for comment.

In 2016, the University of Maine purchased a Naviance campaign that targeted White, Black, and Hispanic students in Massachusetts. But its ad campaigns in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont targeted only White students, according to contracts obtained through public records requests. The university did not respond to requests for comment.

The same year, the University of Massachusetts Boston purchased Naviance advertising aimed at both White and “other” students in New Jersey and New York. But in Connecticut and New Hampshire, it targeted only White students. 

“UMass Boston uses many recruiting strategies … to reach interested high-school-aged students with an aim toward growing diversity in our student body,” DeWayne Lehman, a spokesperson for the university, wrote in an email. He did not answer questions about why the university would target only White students in certain states.

“You can pretty much not escape”

Many colleges and universities have traditionally directed their advertisements using lists of prospective student names purchased from the ACT and from the College Board, which administers the SAT. But fewer high school students are taking those standardized tests.

In many places, the tests were canceled because of COVID-19. And even before the pandemic, universities were adopting test-optional application policies that did not require students to submit test scores. As a result, schools have been searching for new sources of data to fuel their marketing. 

EAB—which is owned by Vista Equity Partners, the same firm that holds a significant stake in Naviance’s parent company, PowerSchool—is currently the exclusive reseller of Intersect’s targeted advertising service. In its marketing material, EAB has presented its access to students through Naviance as a way for colleges and universities to find valuable advertising leads and make up for the loss of data from the ACT and SAT. “Unrivaled Reach: Influence and Engage Top Prospects via Naviance,” reads one recent EAB marketing presentation.

Naviance says that more than 10 million students spread across 40 percent of U.S. high schools use its services. That’s about two thirds of the 15.3 million students who were enrolled in high school in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Education data.

Some districts, like Pittsburgh Public Schools, have made Naviance the mandatory cornerstone of their college and career readiness programs. 

Beginning in third grade, Pittsburgh students must complete at least two lessons or surveys tied to their Naviance account each year, according to a curriculum plan obtained through a public records request. In high school, Pittsburgh students are required to use Naviance’s SuperMatch college search feature, request materials from schools through the platform, and add at least one school to their “Colleges I’m Applying to” list, according to the document.

Pittsburgh Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment.

The surveys ask students to respond to prompts like “It is very important to me that other people see me as a successful person” and “I like to lead and persuade people and sell things and ideas.” In some cases, students take the surveys once in middle school and are not allowed to change their answers at any point in the future. In its user manuals for students, Naviance encourages students to use the survey results to determine their career goals and course plans.

Some districts, like Ann Arbor Public Schools, also use Naviance to administer their own custom surveys about students’ post-high-school plans. They ask students to answer questions like “How are you planning on paying for college?”—information that would be valuable to schools considering which prospective recruits to focus their recruiting efforts on.

The Markup did not find any evidence that Naviance was using students’ survey answers to help target advertisements. 

In order to graduate, you can pretty much not escape the use of Naviance.”

Kids and parents in several districts told The Markup that their schools required students to use Naviance to take career aptitude surveys, request teacher recommendations, submit applications, and research colleges, even if they had already identified the schools they intended to apply to.

“In order to graduate, you can pretty much not escape the use of Naviance,” said Cassie Creswell, a Chicago parent.

That level of reach has made the platform highly attractive for schools like New Jersey City University, one of the institutions that pays Intersect for advertising services, that are competing for a shrinking number of potential students.

Jose Balda, NJCU’s director of admissions, said that 382 freshmen—more than a third of the school’s incoming class in 2020—connected with NJCU through Naviance (although that may not have been the only way they discovered the university).

“This is essentially giving students the opportunity to add us to their shopping list,” Balda said.

A former Naviance account executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his current job, put it a different way: “It’s a pay to play kind of idea, and I don’t think parents know that, but all the universities knew that.”

Empowering students

The former employee said that, despite the disguised advertising, he believes Naviance provides a valuable service to many students, especially those who have fewer resources or less familial experience with the college search process.

PowerSchool says Naviance empowers students with data that helps them make informed decisions about their post-high-school plans and tools to follow through on those plans.

Research into students’ use of Naviance suggests that increased use of the software correlates with increases in college application rates, but its ultimate effects are complicated.

In 2020, Christine Mulhern, then a Harvard University education researcher, investigated the scattergram charts that Naviance displays to students as they research colleges. The charts show students how their GPA and test scores compare to peers from their school who were accepted by a particular college.

Mulhern found that students were 20 percent more likely to apply to a college if they first saw a Naviance scattergram depicting the grades and test scores of previously admitted students. Other research has also shown that increased use of Naviance correlates with higher college application rates.

Viewing scattergrams had a particular impact on students of color, correlating with increased four-year-college enrollment rates for students who are Black, Hispanic, or received free or reduced lunch, Mulhern found. But the study also showed that those students who viewed Naviance scattergrams were “less likely to apply to reach colleges and more likely to attend a safety school” and that “it is probably not optimal for students to respond so strongly to admissions signals” like the GPA and test scores that the scattergrams show. 

Another study, conducted by University of California Irvine professor Roderic Crooks, examined how students in a Los Angeles high school that was 94 percent Latino and 6 percent Black responded to the introduction of Naviance and a school mandate that they use the platform to apply to at least four colleges.

He found that students rebelled against software-enabled surveillance of the application process, in some cases uploading fake applications to Naviance in order to meet their quotas and avoid expulsion.

“At the level of the school, at the level of the user, I think the benefits are quite limited,” Crooks said in an interview. “The benefits accumulate elsewhere.… Naviance wound up with this mountain of data through its activities that then became a saleable, actionable asset. Once these channels for aggregating data are created, then you start to see the companies pivot and start to be about something else.”

This article was originally published on The Markup and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.