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TL;DR: Get the Speedy Mag Wireless Charger for just $34.97 (reg. $119) with on-time Christmas delivery when you order through December 15.

Say goodbye to cluttered cords and hello to effortless charging with the Speedy Mag Wireless Charger, a sleek and modern solution for your iPhone. Designed with both form and function in mind, this charger looks sleek and works smarter. And at just $34.97, it's an affordable gift option, too.

With a built-in magnet that securely attaches to your iPhone, you won't have to worry about your device sliding off mid-charge. It’s the perfect blend of practicality and style, making it a standout accessory for your tech setup.

Simply place your iPhone on the Speedy Mag, and it gets to work automatically, delivering fast and reliable power. Thanks to Speedy Charge technology, it produces quick power without needing to plug and unplug cables.

The charger’s design allows you to position your device however you like, with no additional adapters or cables required. Optimized specifically for iPhone 12 and newer models, it also supports Qi-enabled devices, making it versatile for multiple gadgets.

The MagSafe-compatible advantage gives it an edge over other wireless chargers, enabling even faster charging speeds while maintaining safety. The built-in safeguards protect your device from overcharging or overheating. Plus, with the ability to charge your iPhone 1.5 times in one go, it’s powerful enough to keep you connected all day.

Whether it’s on your nightstand, desk, or in your bag while traveling, the Speedy Mag Wireless Charger is an elegant and efficient way to power your iPhone.

It’s proof that charging can be an experience that complements your lifestyle. For anyone looking to ditch the cables and embrace a stylish, modern way to stay charged, this is an excellent choice.

Get the Speedy Mag Wireless Charger for just $34.97 (reg. $119) with on-time Christmas delivery when you order through December 15.

Speedy Mag Wireless Charger for iPhone - $34.97

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Opens in a new window Credit: SpeedyMag Speedy Mag Wireless Charger for iPhone $34.97
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TL;DR: Plantum is an iOS-exclusive app that identifies 33,000+ plants, diagnoses issues, and provides expert care tips in seconds — and it's on sale for $14.97.

If you’ve ever stood in your garden wondering what that mysterious plant is or how to revive your wilting fern, the Plantum AI Plant Identifier can be of help. This iOS-exclusive app turns your iPhone or iPad into a portable botanist, capable of identifying over 33,000 plant species in just three seconds.

For only $14.97 (regularly $59), it’s a lifetime subscription to expert plant advice, diagnosis, and care tips — all without the guesswork.

You'll be able to snap a quick photo of any plant — indoors or out — and instantly receive its name, care instructions, and even a diagnosis if it’s not thriving. Plantum also goes beyond identification with features like a light meter to find the perfect spot for your plant and tailored reminders to keep it healthy.

From watering schedules to fertilizer recommendations, it’s like having a green-thumbed best friend who never leaves your side.

Whether you’re a gardening novice or a seasoned plant whisperer, Plantum can be a game-changer. The app’s comprehensive database, curated with the expertise of botanists, provides detailed advice on soil, temperature, and sunlight needs. Even better, it diagnoses plant diseases with over 98 percent accuracy, offering practical solutions to save your greenery from common pitfalls.

For just $14.97, you’ll get lifetime access to Plantum’s premium features, making it the ideal gift for the gardener or outdoorsy type in your life. It’s easy to use, endlessly informative, and elevates your plant care game. And with no subscription fees, you’ll enjoy all these perks forever.

Get the Plantum AI Plant Identifier app for iOS devices for just $14.97 (regularly $59).

Plantum - AI Plant Identifier Premium Plan: Lifetime Subscription (For iOS Only) - $14.97

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Opens in a new window Credit: Plantum Plantum - AI Plant Identifier Premium Plan: Lifetime Subscription (For iOS Only) $14.97
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TL;DR: The Farberware Platinum Stick Vacuum is a cordless, flexible, and powerful vacuum on sale for just $179.99 (reg. $229).

Opens in a new window Credit: Farberware Farberware Cordless Platinum Stick Vacuum Cleaner $159.97
$229.99 Save $70.02 Get Deal

Cleaning doesn’t have to be a chore — at least not with the Farberware Cordless Platinum Stick Vacuum Cleaner on your side. This sleek, lightweight powerhouse is here to make tidying up feel less like a task.

Whether you’re tackling crumbs under the couch, pet hair on the carpet, or dust bunnies in the corners, this vacuum has the flexibility and smarts to handle it all. And at $179.99 (down from $229), it’s a great excuse to upgrade your cleaning routine without breaking the bank.

This vacuum is designed with a brushless motor that generates powerful suction. It also has smart sensor technology that adjusts to different debris types to help simplify cleaning. Its cordless design makes it a smart option for quick clean-ups in high-traffic areas, small apartments, or specific rooms where dragging out a heavy vacuum feels like a hassle.

The Farberware vacuum’s three versatile attachments — lighted motor brush, dust brush, and flat nozzle — can tackle nearly every surface with precision. What sets this vacuum apart is its smart, user-friendly features. The bendable wand makes cleaning under furniture a breeze, while the LED light on the motor brush ensures no speck of dust goes unnoticed.

The digital LED screen keeps you informed on battery life and brush speed settings, so you’re always in control. And with up to 36 minutes of runtime, it’s perfect for tackling small messes without interruption.

When you’re done, the large-capacity dustbin is easy to empty. The wall-mounted storage and charging station ensures the vacuum is always ready for its next job. Plus, the washable filter makes maintenance simple and cost-effective.

Order through Dec. 15 at 11:59 p.m. PT to get this Farberware Platinum Stick Vacuum for just $179.99 and delivered in time for Christmas. 

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TL;DR: Transform your home with two app-enabled RGB LED floor lamps featuring 16 million colors for just $84.97.

Opens in a new window Credit: Rochas Divine Mart 56-inch RGB LED App-Enabled Remote Floor Lamp (2-Pack) $84.97
$199.98 Save $115.01 Get Deal

Imagine a world in which the lighting perfectly matches your mood — whether it's a cozy movie night glow, a vibrant party vibe, or a calming retreat after a long day. With this 2-pack of 56-inch RGB LED app-enabled floor lamps, you can create that magic instantly.

For just $84.97 (regularly $199), these lamps let you choose from 16 million colors and 68 dynamic lighting modes, all customizable through an app, remote control, or Bluetooth.

These slim, modern lamps fit snugly into any corner, making them a stylish addition to your living room, bedroom, office, or game room. Want to amp things up? Sync the lights to your playlist, and watch as they dance to the beat.

Maybe you're hosting a dinner party. In that case, set the perfect ambiance with just a tap on your phone. From everyday vibes to special occasions, these lamps add a pop of personality to any space.

What makes these lamps stand out is their sheer versatility. They’re not just functional, they’re also fun. Adjust the brightness from 1% to 100% for the perfect glow, whether you're relaxing with a book or throwing a holiday party. The duoCo StripX app makes customization a breeze, while the included remote and Bluetooth compatibility ensure you’re always in control.

Beyond lighting, these lamps are about convenience. The timer feature lets you schedule your lighting to wake you up gently in the morning or dim as you wind down at night. Plus, their slim, lightweight design means they’ll fit into any space without hogging all the real estate.

Order through Dec. 15 at 11:59 p.m. PT to get these two app-enabled RGB LED floor lamps for just $84.97 (reg. $199).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

As 2024 comes to a close, it's time to take a look back at the best TV shows this year had to offer. And wouldn't you know it, there were a lot of great series to take in.

We were floored by the historical epic Shōgun, stressed out by every second of Industry, and thoroughly unsettled by Baby Reindeer. We rejoiced in the return of shows like We Are Lady Parts, Interview with the Vampire, and Arcane, and couldn't get enough of new favorites like English Teacher and Fallout. But there's so much more TV excellence where those came from!

SEE ALSO: The 25 best movies of 2024, and where to watch them

From samurai and spies to vampires and detectives, here are the 21 best TV shows of 2024 so far, and where to watch them.

21. Silo Season 2

The tense claustrophobia of Silo continues in its second season, with Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) finding herself in a new (and equally nightmarish) spot while her home descends toward a full-scale riot in her absence. Like the first season, the continuation of Graham Yost's dystopian thriller — based on Hugh Howey's book series of the same name — is filled with twists and revelations, tension and power struggles. Season 1 was a tough act to follow, but Season 2 plunges us even deeper into the silo's murky and mysterious depths. — Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor

How to watch: Silo is now streaming on AppleTV+.

20. Colin from Accounts Season 2

Colin From Accounts is one of those rare comedies that actually makes you laugh out loud. Husband-wife team Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer's messy rom-com started off with two strangers (played by Brammall and Dyer) being brought together by an injured dog (the titular Colin). Season 2 picks up where we left off, bringing in a new host of expectedly chaotic situations and family members while keeping the same hilariously cringey tone.

"The show is consistently funny, occasionally moving, and permanently fun to watch, with characters you alternate between groaning at and rooting for," I wrote in my Mashable review. "Like Colin, we're quickly swept up into the chaos of their lives, carried along, and made all the happier for it." — S.H.

How to watch: Colin from Accounts is now streaming on Paramount+.

19. A Man on the Inside

A Man on the Inside reunites The Good Place creator Mike Schur with star Ted Danson. And wouldn't you know it, this comedy is just as likely to make you laugh and pull at your heartstrings as their first team-up. 

SEE ALSO: 'A Man on the Inside' review: Ted Danson and Mike Schur reunite for sweet sitcom gold

Based on the 2020 documentary The Mole Agent, A Man on the Inside follows retired professor Charles (Danson) as he teams up with private investigator Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada). His mission? To go undercover at a retirement home and recover stolen jewelry. Of course, hijinks are soon to follow, as Charles bumbles through the challenges of using spy equipment and assimilating into the home's clique-y community. However, it's not long before Charles finds himself opening up to the people around him, leading to the real heart of A Man on the Inside: its deeply affecting portrayal of aging.

Throughout the first season, characters reckon with distant family members, dementia, and losing their friends, and Schur and A Man on the Inside's stellar ensemble — which also includes Stephanie Beatriz, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Sally Struthers — ensure that these difficult stories are given the time and gravity they deserve. With its sweetness, sensitivity, and a steady flow of great gags, we can chalk A Man on the Inside up as another win for Schur and Danson.* — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: A Man on the Inside is now streaming on Netflix.

18. One Day

In February, we did a whole lot of TV-induced crying, as Netflix's One Day broke our damn hearts. An ambitious, romantic, and fresh adaptation of David Nicholls' novel, this impeccable, slow-burn series gave the story more room to breathe than Lone Scherfig's 2011 film. Following students Emma and Dex (magnetic, lived-in performances by Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall) across decades of their complex friendship, One Day makes a cinematic epic of long-game love while unpacking the politics of privilege in relationships. Even hearing the name of the series will induce starry-eyed looks into the horizon and a palm to the heart.* — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

How to watch: One Day is now streaming on Netflix.

SEE ALSO: Netflix's 'One Day' review: A magnificent adaptation and ode to long love 17. Boy Swallows Universe

A dark but genuinely funny tale of suburban crime brimming with magical realism, the Netflix adaptation of Trent Dalton's novel Boy Swallows Universe is one of 2024's unsung heroes — much like its pint-sized protagonist, 13-year-old Eli Bell (played by outstandingly talented youngster Felix Cameron). Chock-full of '80s Australiana, the series is set in the working-class Brisbane suburb of Darra, where Eli navigates school bullies and a turbulent family life as well as he handles hard-edged criminals with his imaginative brother, Gus (Lee Tiger Halley). It's a heartfelt, unsettling, and hilarious journey through young adolescence, the reality of addiction, and brutal crime, with a killer Aussie soundtrack. — S.C.

How to watch: Boy Swallows Universe is now streaming on Netflix.

SEE ALSO: 'Boy Swallows Universe' review: The stuff TV adaptation dreams are made of 16. The Sympathizer

Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Sympathizer got an absolutely tremendous TV adaptation thanks to co-creators Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar.

SEE ALSO: 'The Sympathizer' review: Park Chan-wook's Vietnam War spy thriller is TV magic

The Sympathizer centers on a Communist spy simply known as the Captain (Hoa Xuande, whose performance here should make him a star), who is recounting his experiences during and after the Vietnam War. Half-Vietnamese and half-French, the Captain feels torn between two worlds, a feeling that only grows when he's told to continue spying in America following the fall of Saigon. From here, The Sympathizer jumps into a probing exploration of memory and allegiance that doubles as sharp satire. Boasting stylish direction from Park and a cast that includes Sandra Oh and Robert Downey Jr. (in four roles with varying degrees of success), The Sympathizer is a more than worthy adaptation of a great novel. — B.E.  

How to watch: The Sympathizer is now streaming on Max.

15. Fallout

TV has gifted us with some stellar video game adaptations in recent years, from Arcane to Castlevania to The Last of Us. In 2024, Fallout joined their ranks, delivering a first season that was bonkers fun (and full of references to the games).

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

Created by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner, Fallout introduced us to a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland where rival factions and mutant creatures run amok. Here, an optimistic Vault dweller named Lucy (Ella Purnell), a Brotherhood of Steel novice named Maximus (Aaron Moten), and an irradiated bounty hunter known simply as the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) cross paths in a journey that will change the wasteland as they know it. With its tantalizing mysteries, zany cast of characters, and gnarly world-building, Fallout is an absolute blast whether you've played the games or not. — B.E.

How to watch: Fallout is now streaming on Prime Video.

14. Pachinko Season 2

Showrunner Soo Hugh's decades-spanning family drama Pachinko just keeps getting better in Season 2. Based on Min Jin Lee's acclaimed novel of the same name, the series splits its time between the lives of Sunja (Minha Kim) and her grandson Solomon (Jin Ha). While Sunja fights to keep her family intact in Osaka in 1945, Solomon struggles to kickstart his own real estate venture in Tokyo in 1989. Their stories may seem different on the surface, but Sunja's past constantly echoes into Solomon's present, with the two facing similar issues of assimilation and prejudice as Koreans living in Japan. These similarities create breathtaking parallels between the show's two halves, knitting together what might seem like an impossible balancing act. Add to that some standout episodes — including a heartbreaking farewell and a jaw-dropping take on the bombing of Nagasaki — and you get an outstanding historical epic. — B.E.

How to watch: Pachinko is now streaming on AppleTV+.

SEE ALSO: 'Pachinko' Season 2 review: Decades-spanning family drama makes a triumphant return 13. Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover's Mr. & Mrs. Smith is anything but a stale remake. Instead, this infinitely enjoyable reimagining of the 2005 film pairs two new spies (Glover and Maya Erskine) together in a fake marriage. How long until they catch real feelings for one another?

SEE ALSO: 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' review: Donald Glover and Maya Erskine's series is sleek, sexy, and super fun

The answer? Not that long! Each of Mr. & Mrs. Smith's eight episodes smartly dive into a new aspect of relationships, from first dates to discussions about wanting kids. These marital milestones are accompanied by a new mission from week to week. Between ski trips in Italy, silent auctions in New York, and a Lake Como car chase gone awry, each assignment ushers in new opportunities for stylish action. Glover and Erskine ooze charm and chemistry, while a rotating gallery of guest stars — Parker Posey! John Turturro! Paul Dano! — keeps things fresh. Smart, sleek, and sexy, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a TV show that truly embraces episodic storytelling. I'd gladly devour five (or more) seasons of it. — B.E.

How to watch: Mr. & Mrs. Smith is now streaming on Prime Video.

12. The Penguin

No Batman? That's no problem for The Penguin, which puts Oz Cobb (an unrecognizable Colin Farrell) in the spotlight.

SEE ALSO: 'The Penguin' review: Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti deliver the goods in Gotham crime drama

Showrunner Lauren LeFranc uses the genre trappings of classic gangster dramas (The Sopranos is a big inspiration here) to explore Oz's attempts to rise through Gotham's criminal underworld, as well as understand just what makes him tick. The answer? A sense of duty to his mother, Francis (Deirdre O'Connell), which comes to a head in a series of monstrous revelations in The Penguin's astounding final episodes. Also lighting up The Penguin is Sofia Falcone (a brilliant Cristin Milioti), whose desire to shed her family ties makes her a formidable adversary for Oz. Heck, I wouldn't blame you for rooting for her instead — I certainly was. But that's the power of The Penguin, which delivers a rich, character-driven story of villains and antiheroes without relying on the Caped Crusader one bit. Who needs him? — B.E.

How to watch: The Penguin is now streaming on Max.

11. We Are Lady Parts Season 2

After three long years on hiatus, We Are Lady Parts is back with a second season that was well worth the wait. 

SEE ALSO: Malala Yousafzai in 'We Are Lady Parts' is the cameo of the year

Created by Nida Manzoor, this sensational comedy series centers on Lady Parts, a punk band made up of Muslim women who are figuring out life, love, friendship, and faith in contemporary London. Between the setting and some familiar themes, Season 2 has echoes of Bridgerton, but with an irreverent sense of humor that is not only totally modern but also absolutely hilarious. Whether following wallflower guitarist Amina (Anjana Vasan), hard-headed frontwoman Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey), warm-hearted bassist Bisma (Faith Omole), mercurial drummer Ayesha (Juliette Motamed), or their ever-strategic manager Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse), We Are Lady Parts rocks, peppered with playful punchlines, rapturous fantasy sequences, rousing musical numbers, and a cameo from the one-and-only Malala Yousafzai. Whether you're new to this series or not, Season 2 is too good to be missed. — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor

How to watch: We Are Lady Parts is now streaming on Peacock in the U.S. and Channel 4 in the UK.

10. Ripley

Andrew Scott awed TV audiences as the theatrically malicious Moriarty in Sherlock, then as the scorchingly Hot Priest in Fleabag. But with Ripley, he plays a very different game. 

SEE ALSO: Does 'Ripley's murder scene count as ASMR?

Adapted from Patricia Highsmith's classic novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, this drama miniseries from Steven Zaillian lures audiences into the seductive world of Thomas Ripley, American social climber turned con man and killer. Offered a free trip to Italy to reclaim an industrialist's expatriate heir, Ripley sees a whole new world open before him: one of privilege, art, and endless opportunities all tied to status and money. But to claim a bit of it himself, he'll have to get his hands dirty. While you might know the story (or the Matt Damon movie), the patience with which this slow-burn series doles it out allows audiences to luxuriate in Highsmith's high-stakes game of jealousy, deception, and murder. The result is a show that feels like a lost holiday: alluring, surprising, and sure to linger on your mind, heart, and soul. — K.P.

How to watch: Ripley is now streaming on Netflix.

9. True Detective: Night Country

True Detective came back with a vengeance for its fourth season, this time helmed by Tigers Are Not Afraid director Issa López. For this new installment of the anthology series, we travel to Ennis, Alaska, a small community about to enter a period of nonstop night.

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about 'True Detective: Night Country'

But darkness isn't the only thing the citizens of Ennis have to worry about. When a group of scientists turn up dead in what can only be described as a "corpsicle," former police partners Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Navarro (Kali Reis) reluctantly team back up to find out who's responsible. As they investigate this case — as well as a murder from years ago that could be linked — the two uncover painful truths about themselves and about Ennis. Oh, and ghosts may or may not be involved. Bleak, enthralling, and anchored by wonderful work from Foster and Reis, Night Country proves there's still power in True Detective yet. — B.E.

How to watch: True Detective: Night Country is now streaming on Max.

8. Fantasmas

Comedian Julio Torres had a banner 2024. Not only is his directorial debut Problemista one of the best movies of 2024 — his latest TV show, HBO's Fantasmas, is also one of the year's standout series.

SEE ALSO: 'Fantasmas' review: Surreal Julio Torres comedy is like nothing else on TV

This surreal comedy follows a fictionalized version of Torres as he hunts for a lost golden oyster-shaped earring. His quest veers off into a series of bizarro, cameo-rich vignettes that dive into the inner lives of objects and concepts or introduce us to strange new characters. Steve Buscemi inhabits the tragic story of the letter Q, for example, while Emma Stone pops up as a Real Housewife-esque figure. Bolstered by singular production design and a sprawling ensemble, Fantasmas cements itself as one of the most original shows of the year — and the most radical. It tackles everything from the American healthcare system to the ways in which corporations commodify identity, making for a fascinating portrayal of how people struggle to be themselves (and how artists struggle to make art) in our capitalist society. — B.E.

How to watch: Fantasmas is now streaming on Max.

7. Arcane Season 2

2024 blessed us with the return of high-profile fantasy series like House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but it's Arcane Season 2 that wins this year's fantasy crown.

SEE ALSO: 'Arcane' Season 2 review: The best fantasy show of 2024, hands-down

Netflix's League of Legends–based series returns us to the feuding cities of Piltover and Zaun, with estranged sisters Vi (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (voiced by Ella Purnell) caught smack-dab in the middle. What follows is a brutal examination of how war pushes people to their extremes, and how even well-intentioned actions can have devastating consequences. But that's not all! Arcane goes bolder and weirder in Season 2, yet never skimps on its emotional heft. In one of the season's most poignant, heart-wrenching arcs, the resurrection of Vander (voiced by JB Blanc) as the monstrous wolf hybrid Warwick offers Jinx and Vi a chance to reunite their family, broken as it may be. Elsewhere, Viktor (voiced by Harry Lloyd) and his Hextech commune offer up a take on transhumanism that is idealistic and disquieting all at once, before jumping full steam ahead into cosmic horror. All these nuances come to life with breathtaking, fearless animation courtesy of Fortiche Productions. And while we could have used maybe one or two more episodes to iron out some unwieldy pacing choices, there's no doubt Arcane is one of the most stunning, ambitious series of the year.* — B.E.

How to watch: Arcane Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

6. Somebody Somewhere Season 3

Raise one last teeny 'tini to Somebody Somewhere, whose third and final season cements the series as one of the best comedies in recent memory — and one of the most low-key. But that low key-ness is the show's secret weapon. Co-created by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, Somebody Somewhere presents a deeply naturalistic look at the life of Manhattan, Kansas, native Sam (Bridget Everett), from her close friendships to her complicated family life.

SEE ALSO: 'Somebody Somewhere' Season 3 review: The best comedy you're not watching comes to a brilliant close

This season focuses on the idea of "GAAO," or Growth Against All Odds. Many people in Sam's circle are coupling up or going after their dreams, leaving Sam worried that she's falling behind. What can she do to move her own life forward and ensure her happiness? Just like in real life, Somebody Somewhere doesn't give a clean-cut solution. However, its emphasis on the ties that bind — especially Sam's ride-or-die friendship with Joel (Jeff Hiller) — and the importance of maintaining them is answer enough. Heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure, Somebody Somewhere's emotional authenticity is unmatched, and the best end-of-year present you can give yourself is watching it. Immediately. — B.E.

How to watch: Somebody Somewhere is now streaming on Max.

5. English Teacher

2024's best comedy comes to us courtesy of Brian Jordan Alvarez, whose viral TikToks and webseries The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo have already earned him the title of Internet Darling. Now, he conquers TV with English Teacher, a breakneck show whose comedic specificity and killer ensemble cast are exactly what sitcom dreams are made of.

SEE ALSO: 'English Teacher' review: High school-set sitcom is a hilarious must-watch

Alvarez plays Evan Marquez, an English teacher at an Austin public high school where every day brings a new crisis. From overbearing parents and dramatic camping trips to gun safety clubs and controversial drag performances, Evan and his fellow teachers have been through it all. Do they actually know what they're doing? Not really. They, along with their students, are bumbling through a complicated educational landscape, trying to do what's right. But English Teacher refuses to be an overly moralistic after-school special. Even the best intentions can lead to the worst gaffes (and therefore, some incredible comedy). — B.E.

How to watch: English Teacher is now streaming on Hulu.

4. Interview with the Vampire Season 2

Season 1 of this audacious adaptation of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles played like a "brilliant gay fever dream," making explicit the queer romance that was implied in the titular novel. With Season 2, the toxic love of Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) lives on — even if the latter is presumed dead. 

SEE ALSO: 'Interview with the Vampire' Season 2 review: Theater, romance, and bloody good TV

Looking back on his time as a blood-sucker, Louis unfurls flashbacks of war-torn Europe, his resentful sister Claudia (Delainey Hayles), grisly theater kid drama, and a budding romance with the vampire Armand (Assad Zaman). Blending elements from several Anne Rice novels — including The Vampire Lestat and The Tale of the Body Thief — showrunner Rolin Jones is giving fans plenty to sink their teeth into. Yet for all this sensational show's splashes of blood, vicious humor, queer longing, and vampire lore, the best bit is the incredible charisma oozing from every single cast member. Whether they're prancing on a stage, fighting in a catacomb, flirting in Paris, or musing in present-day Dubai, they are as captivating as Rice described her immortal beloveds. So no matter how twisted things get, we can't look away! — K.P.

How to watch: Interview with the Vampire Season 2 is now streaming on AMC+.

3. Baby Reindeer

For better or worse, Baby Reindeer is a show that sticks with you: It's amusing in parts, tense in others, and emotionally shattering overall. Based on creator Richard Gadd's own experience of being stalked, the series follows the budding comedian (who plays a version of himself) as he balances career disappointment with his job in a London pub — until a woman named Martha (a brilliant and terrifying Jessica Gunning) comes in one day and develops an obsession with him. "This isn't the type of show with a clear resolution," I wrote in my review for Mashable. "It's messy, thought-provoking, and — like a dream that's difficult to shake — you'll find your mind going back to it long after the credits have rolled." — S.H.

How to watch: Baby Reindeer is now streaming on Netflix.

2. Industry Season 3

For its first two seasons, Industry's cocktail of sex, drugs, and business earned it comparisons to Succession, Euphoria, and Skins. But in its third outing, Industry puts those comparisons to rest with its most ambitious season yet.

SEE ALSO: 'Industry' stars Myha'la and Marisa Abela break down Harper and Yasmin's big fight: 'This is the end for them'

Co-creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay pull no punches in Season 3. Not only do we get new high-profile characters (played by the likes of Game of Thrones' Kit Harington and Barry's Sarah Goldberg), we also get flashbacks, drug-induced visions, solo character episodes, and references to everything from Uncut Gems to period dramas. Somehow it all works, with the formal experimentation coming to resemble the high-risk, high-reward gains Pierpoint & Co.'s employees chase day after day. It's thrilling to watch any show broaden its scope and take risks, but it's even more thrilling to watch said risks succeed. That's why Industry is the year's most exhilarating — and of course, stressful — TV-viewing experience. — B.E.

How to watch: Industry is now streaming on Max.

1. Shōgun

There's good TV, there's great TV, and then there's TV that's so excellent it feels unfair. Shōgun is the latter.

SEE ALSO: 'Shōgun' co-creators break down the finale: 'It's a story about death'

An immaculately crafted historical epic that never loses sight of the personal stakes that drive it, Shōgun drops us into Japan in 1600. Here, an embattled Council of Regents ousts the powerful Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) just as an English vessel lands in Japan for the first time. Toranaga brings the vessel's pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) into his retinue and, with the help of noblewoman Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), attempts to best his enemies as Japan inches closer and closer to civil war. 

Told almost entirely in Japanese, and produced with a focus on cultural authenticity in mind, Shōgun is breathtaking and devastating in equal measure. Sanada, Sawai, and Jarvis are tremendous, along with the entire cast. And while you might come into this epic expecting action and political intrigue (don't worry, you get both), you'll really leave with a sense of mournful contemplation, as Shōgun takes time to examine our relationship to death and to the secret desires that truly drive us. There's no doubt about it: This is the best show of 2024. — B.E.

How to watch: Shōgun is now streaming on Hulu.

(*) denotes that this blurb has been modified from a different list.

TL;DR: Weather Hi-Def Radar is a better weather app, and it's only $28 for a lifetime subscription when you use code FESTIVE30. 

Opens in a new window Credit: Maple Media Weather Hi-Def Radar Storm Watch Plus: Lifetime Subscription $28.00
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There's nothing like planning a fun day outside only to have a storm blow through and ruin your plans. A sunny morning can give way to afternoon thunderstorms, and without the right tools, you're left scrambling. Having an advanced weather radar app on hand can mean the difference between staying safe and getting caught off guard.

Weather Hi-Def Radar is a real-time radar app that takes your weather predictions to the next level with its own interactive map and live weather tracking. Plus, it's only $28 for a lifetime subscription (it's usually $199). Just be sure to use the code FESTIVE30 when you check out at the Mashable Shop.

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When it comes to J.R.R. Tolkien adaptations, Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy is a tough act to follow. Look no further than the Hobbit movies, which floundered in their efforts to capture the original films' success. Then there's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, whose attempts to cram everything we love about Middle-earth into too-short seasons make for unwieldy (if still fun) TV.

Enter The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, an anime prequel from director Kenji Kamiyama (Blade Runner: Black Lotus) that centers on the legendary kingdom of Rohan, 183 years before The Lord of the Rings. While certainly indebted to Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, The War of the Rohirrim doesn't just seek to replicate its predecessors' formula. Instead, it plays with tone and structure to forge a path that is far bleaker. That path starts with the medium of anime, which offers a new angle into Tolkien on a visual and thematic level.

SEE ALSO: 'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' trailer teases an epic battle for the fate of Rohan

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Kamiyama and screenwriters Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou frame The War of the Rohirrim as a historical tale told by The Lord of the Rings' Éowyn (Miranda Otto, returning in voiceover). Her voice acts as a bridge between the medium of live action and anime, with anime acting as a vehicle for live-action Éowyn's storytelling. While we never see any live action scenes, the hint of them becomes the film's baseline reality. Anime, with its heightened, stylized qualities, serves as a representation of legend.

And truly, there is no one better to tell this legend than Éowyn, as War of the Rohirrim's heroine Héra (voiced by Gaia Wise) is essentially Éowyn from 183 years in the past.

The War of the Rohirrim is what you'd get if Éowyn had a solo film. Héra in "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim." Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The War of the Rohirrim is based on a short section of Tolkien's appendices, in which Héra is but an unnamed daughter. However, in fleshing her out, the film is able to add new depth to the story, all while making sure Héra is the kind of person Éowyn would actually be telling a story about.

Like Éowyn, Héra is the daughter of a king of Rohan: the formidable Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Succession's Brian Cox). She's also a headstrong rider and fierce fighter, one who aspires to be just like the shieldmaidens of old. It's not hard to see Éowyn looking up to her and using her story to inspire the next generation of shieldmaidens, years down the line.

That story kicks off in earnest when the Dunlending lord Freca (voiced by Shaun Dooley) proposes that Héra marry his son (and her childhood friend) Wulf (voiced by Luke Pasqualino). Yet that marriage is the last thing both Héra and Helm want. In fact, Helm sees the proposal as such an affront that he challenges Freca to a fight. Here, we see another benefit of incorporating Héra further into the story. Her presence and development add new layers to Helm, as we get a better sense of his relationship to his family. His protectiveness of Héra carries shades of Théoden's own protectiveness over Éowyn, but he has an added element of bloodthirsty bravado that carries over into his brawl with Freca.

SEE ALSO: The 'Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' cast debates whether Sauron is "brat"

That fight is the first of many skirmishes The War of the Rohirrim has to offer, and it's as uncompromising as one might expect when a man named "Hammerhand" is involved. All it takes is one mighty punch for Helm to kill Freca outright, but the feud between Helm's family and Freca's is far from over. Wulf, in his grief, vows revenge.

And revenge he'll get! Years later, Wulf has amassed enough of an army that he can march on Rohan. In the war that follows, Helm, Héra, and the Rohirrim must retreat to the Hornburg stronghold, where they'll make one last stand to save their people.

Sound familiar? That's because the story of Helm Hammerhand is basically the prototype for The Two Towers' Battle of Helm's Deep. After all, he's the reason the Hornburg comes to be known as Helm's Deep! Yet The War of the Rohirrim is no Helm's Deep retread. It's a brutal, lengthy siege that pushes everyone involved to new, desperate limits.

The War of the Rohirrim's siege sequence isn't just Helm's Deep 2.0. Helm Hammerhand in "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim." Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

While the battles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy are gargantuan undertakings, and unquestionably the best fantasy set pieces put to screen, they aren't particularly lengthy affairs. The Battle of Helm's Deep takes place over the course of one night, whereas the Siege of Gondor and the Battle of Pelennor Fields last a few days. The siege in The War of the Rohirrim lasts an entire winter, and the film makes sure you feel the impact of every one of those months spent in the cold.

Within the walls of the Hornburg, the remaining people of Rohan are confronted day in, day out with their impending doom — especially as Wulf's army constructs a siege tower that could break their last defense. Things are hardly better outside the walls, though. Wulf's encampment bears the brunt of the snowy elements, forcing his own people to consider whether this siege is really worth it. Of course, there's no question for Wulf, who remains resolute in his snarling, single-minded quest to tear Helm apart. But for everyone else involved (including the audience), The War of the Rohirrim's siege sequence is a tightly wound coil of dread. One side has to break — but which will it be?

These psychological tensions only continue to rise when rumors spread of a ghostly figure tearing through Wulf's camp. Here, The War of the Rohirrim takes a turn into Gothic horror, with the hallowed halls of the Hornburg perhaps being home to some greater supernatural forces. The result is deliciously frightening for a time, then surprisingly sweet in its payoff.

The same is true for the rest of The War of the Rohirrim, which takes us from the depths of Rohan's despair to the heights of Héra's hope for the future. Her fervent belief that some good can still prosper in even the darkest of times is unmistakably Tolkien in nature, linking The War of the Rohirrim to the Jackson films through more than repeated locations and Easter eggs (some more heavy-handed than others). However, it's the ways in which The War of the Rohirrim stands out from Jackson's films — like the use of anime and the psychologically-focused siege sequence — that allows The War of the Rohirrim to truly carve out its own space in onscreen portrayals of Middle-earth.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim opens in theaters Dec. 13.

An unremarkable real-world thriller, September 5 fails on numerous fronts: both as a film re-telling the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis, and as a journalistic retrospective about TV broadcasting. It arrives with renewed relevance in light of constant, harrowing news from Palestine, but the movie’s narrowed focus — almost entirely confining the plot to the real-time developments within ABC's Munich newsroom — is a blinkered approach that ends up saying little about the events either in retrospect, or as they unfolded in the moment.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best movies of 2024 (so far!)

Swiss director Tim Fehlbaum brings clockwork proficiency to his screenplay (which he co-wrote with Moritz Binder and Alex David). However, his technical acumen is in service of a mechanical cinematic experience whose political outlook is awkward at best, and status-quo fawning at worst. That the film is now on people's Oscar radar appears to be an outcome of its appearance on one solitary list of predictions, despite it receiving little buzz out of its Venice premiere. Whether September 5 hits with award bodies remains to be seen, but to laud it with trophies would be a severe political miscalculation, an act that — like the film itself — is all bluster, and features little by way of artistic inquiry.

What is September 5 about?

In the early hours of Sept. 5, 1972, eight gunmen from the Palestinian militia Black September took the Israeli Olympic team hostage in their hotel and demanded the release of over 200 Palestinian prisoners — an event depicted in the opening scenes of Steven Spielberg's Munich. Among the first news stories of its kind to be broadcast live around the globe, this armed encounter helped set the stage for such coverage in the future, a self-reflexivity the movie hints toward, as its journalists scramble to bring the story to a worldwide audience. Far from saints, some of its journalist characters are downright opportunistic, which begins to paint an intriguing portrait of the future of TV news. However, Fehlbaum never quite follows this instinct.

On one hand, tethering the film's perspective to ABC's makeshift control center offers unique insight into live broadcasting, a complex technical process seldom explored on screen. In that vein, the film is tantalizingly tactile, with its use of maps, books, and telephones re-jigged to function as radio receivers so the whole team can eavesdrop on German police scanners. On the other hand, the ethics of breakneck TV decision-making, and the media's role in capturing the affair, which took place over 20 hours, while making harmful mistakes — like broadcasting police strategies live on air, so the attackers could get one step ahead — play out in rote fashion.

It’s as though September 5 were obligated to touch on every item on a biopic checklist, more so the logistics of "what" and "who" rather than the more emotionally detailed “how” and “why,” without exploring the broader implications of what’s on screen. Even meeting the movie on its level, within these narrow parameters, yields disappointing drama, since the edit rarely ruminates on the momentary impact of any event or decision. "It's not about details, it's about EMOTIONS," one character argues in a pivotal scene. If only the movie had followed suit. 

However, the issues don't begin and end with how the story is told; they're often tied to what sliver of the larger whole the movie chooses to tell (and all that it leaves to the imagination). John Magaro plays Geoffrey Mason, the spry new producer charged with making real-time editing decisions, while Peter Sarsgaard appears as executive Roone Arledge, a vulture of sorts, but a suit who gets things done against all odds. The tension between them is akin to that of film directors and studio execs battling over an edit — what's right for the story vs. what's best business — only in the case of an armed standoff and hostage negotiation unfolding in real time, that edit happens just seconds before images make it to air.

As the superego to Magaro and Sarsgaard's ego and id, Ben Chaplin's broadcasting overseer Marvin Bader is an occasional voice of reason, though his function is largely to verbalize the movie's ethical conundrums. Few of these are allowed to play out within the drama itself, since the movie is quick to jump from any brief moment of realization or self-reflection toward the next real-world event. 

The half-baked politics of September 5.

Conspicuous by his physical absence through much of the film is a character who makes a fleeting appearance early on: TV journalist Peter Jennings (Benjamin Walker), whose brief dialogue in the newsroom hints at the complex politics involved. Jennings' voice can be heard through archival audio as he narrates the hostage situation live, but any sense that his extensive experience covering the Middle East might come in handy and provide a nuanced perspective is often brushed aside by the film, and by the other characters. For instance, his suggestion that the word "terrorist" be avoided in favor of "guerillas" or "commandos" is practically treated as a punchline.

The term has since become loaded and racialized, and after a single exchange touches on this tension, the conversation quickly falls by the wayside, until the movie—in its closing titles — uses the term as well, rather than taking a more critical approach to the wider conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the way this language is weaponized (as the fictionalized Jennings had feared). No film is beholden to a more balanced view than corporate news media typically presents, but in gesturing toward complexity, September 5 sets a bare minimum target for itself that it fails to hit. It's practically audacious in this misstep, in light of recent asymmetrical coverage of Israel's current bombing campaign of the Gaza strip.

No such wider lens is applied to the movie, and it suffers in the process. The claustrophobia and urgency of a newsroom can make for engaging storytelling, but the film adheres to the very same limitations the reporters were constrained by at the time, as they scrambled to put two and two together. If it has any dramatic irony, it's only toward the nation of Germany, who had hoped to use the '72 games as a peaceful benchmark of how far they'd come since World War II. Dialogue about how German efficiency would quickly solve the crisis — when the police badly dropped the ball in reality, leading to a disastrous airfield shootout — makes it apparent that Fehlbaum and co. are capable of at least winking at the audience and folding, into the movie’s purview, a sense of foresight.

However, this broad cinematic empathy has its limits in September 5, and the movie instead wears nominally progressive notions on its sleeve through isolated newsroom incidents. A local female correspondent, Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch), is underestimated by her male peers, who learn to value her skills one scene later. A racist character's remark about Arabs is swiftly rebuked by his Algerian coworker, though that’s the entire extent of the film’s perspective on Middle Eastern geopolitics. 

The only thing that matters in September 5 is the newsroom, and even when its newsmen exacerbate the crisis, or struggle with what's right — like whether to keep their cameras trained on potential executions — the camera holds on Magaro, Sarsgaard, and Chaplin's intense performances just long enough to conjure curiosity about their doubts. Then, as it moves on, it simply forgets that these questions were even asked in the first place, or that they matter.

September 5 is aesthetically malformed.

An early scene in September 5 has all the intensity of a CIA control room in one of Paul Greengrass' Bourne films, which is high praise considering how those movies used cinéma vérité to embody the modern surveillance state. Fehlbaum and cinematographer Markus Förderer's camera work in tandem with Hansjörg Weißbrich's editing provide a tightly controlled sequence of up-to-the minute decision making, cut hastily but precisely, and aimed at intimate image-making.

It's a treat to watch, but the only problem is that this scene is about a swimming competition the day before the hostage crisis begins. Nothing in the rest of the film matches this intensity, which is partly owed to the fact that September 5 has an incredibly awkward relationship to time. Where the events of the swim meet unfold over several minutes (condensed to several seconds as the news crew captures personal and national victory), the hostage crisis goes on for a full day. 

However, in capturing its chronology, the film presents little difference between a cut within the same scene and a cut that skips forward several minutes or hours. Unless a character mentions the time on the clock, it's hard to keep track of how much time has elapsed, or how the situation has evolved.

This is also a function of the movie's central narrative choice: to practically never leave the newsroom. If their cameras don't capture it, they don't see it, which often renders the events themselves a mere background fixture, whose impact never seems to land. No new dimensions are revealed to violence, its causes, or its overarching politics, but the movie also provides little insight into the complications (and royal muck-ups) within the newsroom itself. September 5 runs a hair over 90 minutes, but this time is better spent watching Kevin Macdonald's Oscar-winning documentary on the same subject, One Day in September, which is made up of archival footage pulled from numerous sources, rather than locking itself to one perspective that isn't particularly interesting or enlightening to begin with.

September 5 is now in select theaters.

UPDATE: Dec. 12, 2024, 2:39 p.m. EST "September 5" was reviewed out of its 2024 Philadelphia Film Festival premiere. This review, originally published Oct. 29, 2024, has been updated to include the most current viewing information.

"Stunning" doesn't even begin to cover it, but RaMell Ross' Nickel Boys is one of those rare Hollywood productions — perhaps alongside this year's I Saw the TV Glow — that feels aesthetically transformative. A moving film about a violent reform school in 1960s Florida, it adapts Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Nickel Boys in a particularly arch manner, bringing to life its story of young Black teens caught in an oppressive system (as well as the real events on which the book was based) with meticulous detail.

SEE ALSO: New York Film Festival preview: 10 movies you ought to know about

The film is told, for the most part, through first-person point of view, a tall ask for audiences accustomed to more traditional filmmaking. However, over the course of its 140 minutes, Nickel Boys unfurls numerous pathways into its unique construction, practically teaching viewers how to watch it, as it builds a tale of personhood that's as intimate in presentation as it is political in implication. In Whitehead's novel, the words on the page are just as meaningful as the blank spaces between them — an approach Ross recreates not through absence, but through the layered use of archival video and images that blend fiction with reality in both wistful and harrowing ways.

All the while, Ross avoids the tendency to luxuriate in the visually traumatic; instead, he maneuvers around cinematic exploitation by embodying the bone-deep effects of trauma. The film's non-linear structure occasionally flashes forward several decades, mimicking how profoundly our minds and bodies keep the score. Few narrative feature debuts have felt so poignant and so richly formed that they practically speak their own language, as Nickel Boys does, while also managing to articulate its drama clearly and instinctively. The result is a dynamic work of resilience and self-actualization. 

What is Nickel Boys about?

The film, like the novel, follows 16-year-old Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse), a promising teen from Tallahassee who lives with his grandmother, Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), and navigates the Jim Crow-era South. On his way to a technical college for advanced classes, the high schooler finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, leading to false charges of theft and internment at the Nickel Academy, an isolated juvenile home on a sprawling estate that presents itself as a place of hard work and reform.

A young adherent of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Elwood's idealism quickly clashes with Nickel's harsh reality of segregation and corporal punishment. However, he also finds guidance and companionship in Turner (Brandon Wilson), a fellow student hailing from Houston whose more upbeat demeanor and slick survival tips exists in close proximity to his own fears of the school's ruthless staff. Should the boys misbehave, they know that the ominous administrator Spencer (Hamish Linklater) will whisk them away in the middle of the night for a severe beating — or something worse. (The film makes the novel's implications of sexual violence slightly more pronounced.) 

What is perhaps most surprising about Nickel Boys is how casually this information is relayed to Elwood. The fates of several former students who have "mysteriously" disappeared isn't so much rumor and innuendo as it is common knowledge among the boys, keeping them in line as they toil away from dawn to sundown, plowing fields and making local deliveries for what one assumes is little (if any) pay. The film evokes images of American slavery at every turn, between white students overseeing their Black counterparts as they pick crops, to rusty rings that have been embedded in the nearby trees for so long that they're practically part of the foliage, conjuring images of young Black boys chained up in the darkness.

These evocations exist in the minds of the audience thanks to the prominence of slavery cinema (and television, à la Roots). Few mainstream films, however, have focused on the kind of institutional violence directly descended from chattel slavery a century later in the way Nickel Boys does. Its echoes don't point to older horrors, but ones that were still alive and well when the film was set, and for many years after. Ross simply threads the needle in ways most viewers might understand, frequently employing footage of the Sidney Poitier-led prisoner drama The Defiant Ones to further make its point in montage. 

"There are four ways out of Nickel," Turner says. There's aging out at 18, being let out for good behavior, and if you're lucky — as Elwood hopes to be, with his grandma's help — having family contact lawyers to have your sentence overturned, though this is a long and arduous process. The fourth way out is the most dangerous, so few avail of it: escaping Nickel's grounds, at the risk of being chased and killed. For Turner, the film is about finding ways to adapt and survive. However, the more book-smart Elwood believes in a fifth way: challenging the system itself, given its illegal practices, though this may be even riskier. Ruffle any feathers when inspectors come to visit, and you'll end up being "taken out back."

With the boys torn between trying to withstand a system and dismantle it from within, the stakes are monumental, even though much of the movie unfolds across gentle scenes of blossoming friendship and mutual understanding. These are told mostly through Elwood's eyes, and on occasion, Turner's. However, Nickel Boys harbors a sense of tragic inevitability. Brief scenes of Elwood in the future — played by Hamilton original Daveed Diggs — signal their removal from the '60s through shots of computer screens and contemporary paraphernalia, but remain tethered to the era through Elwood's research into the past, as news stories of the school's mass graves come to light.

In these moments, the movie's self-imposed visual constraints also become its biggest strengths.

Nickel Boys takes a powerful aesthetic approach.

Ross is hardly the first filmmaker to employ point-of-view shots for lengthy stretches. Temporal experiments like Russian Ark and the video game gimmick of Hardcore Henry come to mind, but Nickel Boys is most like the films of Gaspar Noé in this regard, especially his spiritual, out-of-body POV experience Enter the Void, albeit in a much more grounded manner. From its opening frames, Ross' adaptation, co-written by Joslyn Barnes, feels fully embodied in its mood and motions, as an adolescent Elwood catches glimpses of himself in reflective surfaces, like bus windows and his grandmother's steam iron. It feels worth mentioning that The Nickel Boys is largely written in third person, but the film's astounding narrative shift accentuates the nuances of Whitehead's drama and characterization.

Between the young child's observations of Hattie's daily life and his viewing of Dr. King Jr.'s speeches on TV screens in store windows — his own reflection visible all the while — he begins to come to an awareness of his own place in the world. This is crystalized in a key POV shot of Elwood looking down at his arms and inspecting his own skin, echoing the writings of James Baldwin on similarly formative realizations of Blackness in his youth.

It's an inciting incident of sorts, shaping Elwood's understanding of himself while situating the audience firmly in his perspective, though Ross makes certain visual adjustments along the way. While the camera's movements mimic reality, cinematographer Jomo Fray uses soft focus and telephoto lenses to strip away the image's topmost naturalistic layers, especially in moments of extreme close-up. While still captured from a distinct perspective, these highly textured shots zero in on sensory details in ways that make them feel like nostalgic memories. When Hattie's cake knife rattles along a plate, as she cuts Elwood a slice of a homemade, spongy delicacy, you can practically smell the warmth and love with which it was baked.

This impressionism is complemented by an essayistic use of archival footage, sourced mostly from the African American Home Movie Archive. (Some of it also comes from NASA; the Space Race, aimed at putting "Whitey[s] on the Moon," represents the grand American antithesis to the reality of Black boys at Nickel.) Old film footage of Black children and families in joyful moments is intercut and contrasted with the boys at the Academy, matching their movements, and transporting us rhythmically from the confines of their harsh surroundings to a wider world outside, albeit briefly. The movie, despite its mimicry of human perspective, employs a narrow 4:3 aspect ratio, creating a sense of tunnel vision that keeps Elwood and Turner practically blinkered. They can't see past their oppressive confines — and so the film, in a way, imagines the outside world and its liberation for them. The viewer's desire to see them freed becomes all the more pressing. 

However, when the movie's borrowed footage begins incorporating the magnetic flaws of video tape — a format that wouldn't be popular for decades after the film is set — it pulls the viewer forward through time, in a way. This takes the form of vignettes of life in Harlem in the '80s, where we also glimpse an adult Elwood, but this isn’t the only way the movie signals its cinematic time travel. 

While the use of interspersed archive footage is intentionally scattered, almost random, the way the narrative hops back and forth is much more precise. In a moment when Elwood becomes the victim of his school's corporal punishment, Ross makes a masterful switch with disquieting impact and presents him from the rear, shooting his back as though he had slipped outside himself. This moment of traumatic dissociation carries over into the movie's future scenes, wherein Elwood (Diggs) is shot exclusively with a "Snorricam" rig attached to his body from the rear, matching his every moment so that we remain fixed to his point of view — but so that his perspective is now removed from his sense of physical self, thanks to the violence he endured as a child.

This is also when the movie begins employing real-world photographs and news footage of the Dozier Academy, the actual school on which Whitehead modeled Nickel, down to the shed reserved for the boys' harshest physical punishments. Although we don't spend much time with the older Elwood, he becomes the center of some of the most emotionally striking scenes. Diggs effectively "operates" the camera through his body language. When Elwood runs into a now-adult schoolmate who recounts his own harrowing tales — a tremendous one-scene performance by Craig Tate — his hesitance to chat, and his reluctance to be vulnerable, become heartbreakingly embodied by the minor movements of the frame.

There's no such aesthetic equivalent for trauma in literature, or in any other medium, but Ross' film deftly captures the silent poetry between Whitehead's words, making it a particularly potent work of adaptation.

Nickel Boys is a magnificent literary translation. 

While there are minor plot departures along the way, the biggest difference between Nickel Boys and Whitehead's novel is the way it expands upon (and arguably deepens) the material through sheer aesthetic force. Some of this occurs during fleeting moments — Alex Somers and Scott Alario's rustling, clanking score captures the academy's foreboding when it first appears — but much of it comes down to Ross' approach to translating between mediums.

The director only has one other feature under his belt, the immense and oblique documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening, but it makes for a perfect B-side to Nickel Boys. The Oscar–nominated doc uses similar techniques, with close-ups of sensory moments disembodied from time used to illustrate the daily lives of Black residents of Alabama. Whitehead's novel comes with a similar level of detail, with each description of a person, object, or even surface hinting at a deeper history, which Ross subsequently captures through Elwood and Turner's eyes, focusing on each fleeting feature just long enough to conjure thought and feeling.

SEE ALSO: 10 books that helped Colson Whitehead write 'The Underground Railroad'

However, the film practically outdoes its source material in its conception of both leads. In portraying the world through Elwood and Turner's eyes, Ross confers a constant sense of personhood upon the camera, forcing the viewer to reflect on each moment as an extension of someone's humanity. But in switching between the two boys' points of view, Nickel Boys also takes on a more traditionally cinematic form when they're together, cutting between their close-ups, as though their connection had inadvertently conjured familiar comforts. The film, in this way — and through its deeply considered performances — approaches a love story. Whether or not it's remotely queer or romantic, it features a sense of gentleness that must exist by necessity, in order for the two boys to simply survive.

The film's use of POV also brings to mind the work of Barry Jenkins — who, as it happens, adapted another Whitehead novel, The Underground Railroad. Jenkins' work makes frequent use of characters looking straight down the lens so we can reflect on their humanity, a technique that was further emphasized in The Gaze, a video exhibit that spun out of Railroad. Ross' approach, however, plays like its equal and opposite. In employing a first-person perspective to this degree, Nickel Boys presents each supporting character — those who love Elwood, and those who would do him harm — through similar shots of them staring at the camera, and revealing their most honest selves in the process. However, they act as mirrors too, constructing numerous conceptions of Elwood's humanity as well, just from the way they look at him. 

The result is not just dehumanization at close proximity, but what critic Robert Daniels calls, in his review of The Underground Railroad, a subsequent "re-humanization." In Nickel Boys, the camera constructs a powerful sense of self and personhood through the kind of thoughtful, propulsive artistry the American mainstream has seldom seen, making its opposition to violence and racist oppression wholly self-evident through its visual approach. The film is unlike anything else, but it feels intimately familiar.

Nickel Boys opens in limited release Dec. 13.

UPDATE: Dec. 12, 2024, 3:41 p.m. EST "Nickel Boys" was reviewed out of its New York Film Festival Premiere in this article, originally published on Oct. 5, 2024. The article has been updated to reflect the most current viewing options.

When critics called for superhero movies to do something different, we didn't mean Joker: Folie à Deux. 

In 2019's Joker, co-writer/director Todd Phillips stole heavily from Martin Scorsese's earlier films to re-imagine the iconic Batman villain as a put-upon everyman on the brink of breakdown and infamy. Earning over a billion dollars worldwide and 11 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, The Hangover helmer's gritty Joker origin story was practically guaranteed a sequel. Admittedly, Phillips earned goodwill — even from those of us who rolled our eyes at Phillips' poor imitation of Taxi Driver meets The King of Comedy — were intrigued when he cast pop goddess Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. 

SEE ALSO: What's new to streaming this week? (Dec. 13, 2024)

But be warned, Little Monsters: Joker: Folie à Deux will not satisfy your desire to see Gaga go hard. Harley Quinn fans will likewise be disappointed, as the character who has been re-imagined in a variety of fresh and fun ways across movies, TV, and video games never gets her moment in the spotlight. Likewise, I suspect Batman fans — specifically those who adored Christopher Nolan's take on the Gotham rogues' gallery — will groan over Phillips' casual skewing of that canon. Not even musical fans will be entertained by Joker: Folie à Deux, because while Phillips can drop a reference, he fails to make any of these intriguing elements his own. 

Make no mistake: Joker: Folie à Deux is an atrociously grim and boring movie. 

Joker and Harley aren't what fans might hope.  Credit: Niko Tavernise / Warner Bros. Pictures

The first act of Joker: Folie à Deux is ungodly slow, lumbering through Arthur "Joker" Fleck's (Phoenix) routine at the Arkham State Hospital. He's being held in the maximum security wing ahead of his trial for murdering five people, including talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) on live TV. Emaciated as ever and silently glum, Arthur doesn't even crack jokes for the jolly Irish guard (Brendan Gleeson, giving his all to a bit part), not anymore anyway. It seems Arthur's lust for life (or blood) is utterly gone — until he makes eye contact with Lee Quinzel (Gaga), a patient who shares his affinity for violence and mayhem. 

From Batman: The Animated Series to Suicide Squad to Harley Quinn, the romance between Joker and Harley has always been characterized by varying levels and shades of toxicity. Here, the dynamic is less lovestruck sidekick and more hanger-on. Lee swiftly establishes herself as a Joker fangirl, telling Arthur she's seen the TV movie made about him like 20 times, and assuring him it's a great. She coddles his ego, his need for attention, and even his genitals to wind her way around his heart. And ahead of his trial, she's quick to rush to the tabloids to tell all about their wild love. 

Per the title, the two share in a specific madness, a fantasy that explains the musical numbers within this movie that Phillips himself has declined to define as a musical. Essentially, in their shared vision, Arthur and Lee are backed by an orchestral score as they sing out jaunty songs with a twisted glee. Joker: Folie à Deux is most alive when Phoenix and Gaga embrace this freaky fantasy, informed by musicals like 1953's The Band Wagon, pulling from the scene and song "That's Entertainment."

However, Phillips seems afraid to indulge in the aesthetics of the Golden Age of musicals, favoring instead the gritty, macho ferocity of '70s classics like Dog Day Afternoon, The French Connection, or The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. But he can't pull it off. Sure, the colors may shift from sickly greens and yellows to brighter shades when the film moves from real to romantic imagination. But they're still cool, reflecting a certain squalor instead of a glistening fantasy.

A bigger issue is that Arthur Fleck is not the charismatic underdog seen in these '70s hits. Phoenix doesn't attempt the grizzled bravado of Walter Matthau, the tooth-grit intensity of Gene Hackman, or the feral, blue-collared enthusiasm of Al Pacino. Phoenix's Fleck is built of broken glass, sharp and fragile but unable to be embraced as an engaging anti-hero. In both this film and the last, he is defined by a lack of charisma. So, while clown-masked fans holler outside the courthouse, the audience might well be baffled at their obsession. Fleck is either pathetically perplexed or excruciating in his capering. The many, many courtroom scenes of Arthur/Joker facing off against witnesses, prosecutor Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey), or an increasingly annoyed judge are ruthlessly dull. 

I wish this was the movie Lady Gaga thinks she's in.  Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga star as Arthur and Lee in "Joker: Folie à Deux." Credit: Niko Tavernise / Warner Bros. Pictures

Joker: Folie à Deux is a misanthropic movie, where nearly every act of kindness is undercut by a hidden agenda. But even in this grim portrait of Gotham, Phillips leans hard into misogynistic archetypes. The two female leads in this sequel fall on opposite sides of the tedious madonna/whore divide, where a man's view of a woman is either a saintly mother or a sinister temptress. On one end of the spectrum is Arthur's defense attorney (an underused Catherine Keener), who argues that the Joker is a separate personality and that Arthur needs mental health care, not prison. On the other end is Lee, who sees Joker as Arthur's true self, and through their romance pushes him to embrace the clown paint, wherever it leads him.

Because this is firmly Joker's movie (Harley's name isn't in the title, is it?), Lee's character is less fleshed out and more a sexy device to push Arthur out of his numb routine and back into the chaos circus. Despite her worldwide fame as a singer, Gaga isn't given a big number, just a small solo moment before a mirror, singing to herself as she puts on the closest this movie will get to a Harley Quinn makeover. This could-be awesome transformation is underwhelming, the results like a rushed Halloween costume. Fans who've relished the fresh fashion fantasies bestowed upon us by Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn, and The Suicide Squad will likely be disappointed. Adding insult to injury, the duo's dance down Joker's signature staircase — which is all over the promotional materials — doesn't even occur in this movie. 

Why would Gaga take such a sidekick role? She pours herself into the part, so much so that she's released a companion album, Harlequin, though Lee is never even called "Harley Quinn" in this movie. But despite being kicked to the margins of this Joker story, Gaga's performance offers a rich subtext about parasocial relationships — one that perhaps is informed by her own experience as a global pop star. Her Lee is a fan who feels not only that she understands the (in)famous person with whom she is obsessed, but also that she knows what's best for him better than anyone else. Yearning to be seen and loved, Arthur is easy prey for such attention. But while the film begins to regard Lee as a vicious opportunist, Gaga's performance shows empathy through Lee's radiant desperation to be seen. Whatever the song put before her, Gaga performs them smartly in character, pitching her voice from tender on the verge of breaking, to sultry vocal purrs, to broad cabaret belting. Her Lee is a woman determined to be the badass she wants to see in the world, and Gaga's vocal performance charts that course in the background of the Joker tedium.

While Phillips' dull courtroom drama has the depth of a college dorm room poster, Gaga plunges into a deep pool of primal yearning and emotional resonance to make the most of a criminally underwritten role. 

DC canon and classic musicals are given equal disrespect in Joker: Folie à Deux.  Joaquin Phoenix is Arthur Fleck in "Joker: Folie à Deux." Credit: Niko Tavernise / Warner Bros. Pictures

The script by Phillips and Scott Silver sprinkles in some familiar Harley canon, however haphazardly. But it's not enough to make this character feel remotely connected to the versions of Quinn that have come before. Worse yet, Phillips cavalierly includes in his third act a none-too-subtle allusion to Nolan's The Dark Knight. This scene — which involves a violent interaction with another Arkham inmate — is clearly intended as an Easter egg for DC fans, but it's hard to imagine Phillips' blatant retconning of the adored trilogy (which he had nothing to do with) will be appreciated. 

SEE ALSO: 'The Dark Knight' connection in 'Joker: Folie à Deux' is laughably bad

On top of showing a clip from The Band Wagon, Joker: Folie à Deux is sprinkled with old standards like "Get Happy," "That's Life," and "If My Friends Could See Me Now." There are also allusions to iconic musical offerings such as Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Sonny & Cher Show, and Chicago. But these flourishes feel as superficial as the narrative's tentative connection to the DC comics.

It's all so much clown paint on a pig. Phillips has crafted an astoundingly tedious courtroom drama bedecked with musical numbers, star power, and DC IP, yet it still feels like a slog. To his credit, he's broken out of the superhero cliches that have resulted in fatigue from critics and audiences alike. But his pastiche brings nothing new or exciting to the screen for a woefully indulgent runtime of two hours and 18 minutes. 

In the end, Joker: Folie à Deux doesn't feel provocative, romantic, or even entertaining. This sequel feels like a punishment. 

UPDATE: Dec. 12, 2024, 3:22 p.m. EST This review was originally published on Oct. 3, 2024, in connection with the film's theatrical debut. It has been updated to reflect the latest viewing options.

Joker: Folie à Deux is now streaming on Max.

"I don't care that you're a stoner" are words any weed enthusiast would love to hear during a hangout sesh — ideally from the lips of Chappell Roan herself during an a cappella serenade of "Red Wine Supernova," but from any old date works, too. And while it's a tricky subject to bring up on a blind date or serendipitous meet-cute, putting the feelers out on a dating app can help you avoid any more awkward first dates with someone who's not about that life.

Past that, if ingesting weed in your preferred form comes to mind when listing off your hobbies, it's completely valid to prefer a match who would also enjoy a night of Netflix, the couch, and a laser bong.

SEE ALSO: Dating predictions for the rest of 2024 Is there an app for stoners to meet? Yes, but...

Finding a weed-friendly partner doesn't require a weed-centric dating app, though a few of those technically do exist. High There! and 420 Singles would probably be considered the two "main" stoner dating apps, though "main" is a bit of a stretch considering the lack of an active user base. While we would love to find an active dating site just for marijuana users, user reviews point back to the same issues: of the few profiles that aren't dead or bots, these apps often devolve into places to buy and sell weed.

SEE ALSO: The uncomfortable truth behind the lavender marriage trend

Luckily, there are plenty of mainstream dating apps that let you filter by interests or even mention your love for cannabis in your bio (regardless of whether or not recreational weed has been legalized and/or decriminalized in your state). That said, not all of these advanced matchmaking features for finding your fellow stoners are free. On Hinge, for example, you can't filter based on marijuana stance (or height, political views, or religion) unless you're a paid subscriber. Your best bet is to disclose your 420 status in your bio — just don't make it the primary focus.

Below, we've pulled the best 420-friendly dating apps of 2024. These apps are where the cannabis-loving community finds love (and maybe a smoke buddy). So skip the uncomfortable small talk and get straight to connecting with people who get it.

Sexting (aka dirty talk, swapping nudes, sending explicit audio messages...the list goes on) is an entirely new kind of intimacy. It's a way to connect with folks on a deeper level, even if you're not physically together. And hey, who doesn't love a little teasing and digital foreplay before a long-awaited meeting?

The motivations for sexting are as varied as the act itself. Whether you're single and ravenous for some sexy screen time with a stranger, hoping to find a regular sexting buddy, in a long-distance relationship and keeping the passion alive through virtual sex, or want to amp up your solo sex toy sessions with steamy instructions from an AI companion, mastering the act (art?) of sexting leads to a more fulfilling physical and emotional experience.

Now, we're not talking about flirting with your crush on Facebook Messenger or sliding into someone's DMs on Instagram uninvited (cringe!). We're talking about good old-fashioned dirty talk with a modern twist. Think video chat, sexy snaps, and disappearing messages to keep your private information safe. We made a lot of accounts to test the best sexting apps, and we've gathered our favorites below. (You might even recognize some from our guides to the best dating apps and hookup apps.)

Once viewed as taboo, sexting is becoming a mainstream way to communicate your desires Sexting should always be consensual, sexy, and fun. Credit: Zain Bin Awais / Mashable

A 2023 survey found that 77 percent of U.S. adults have sent at least one sext. Other research surveys have found even higher rates of sexting. Millennials are leading the charge, but they're definitely not alone in sending those naughty messages and nudes. As messaging apps get more advanced and our society gets more sex-positive, sexting has entered the mainstream in a big way.

SEE ALSO: The cherry emoji and 14 other emoji you can use to sext

Sexting isn't just a saucy way to get off; it's a great tool for building trust and intimacy. It's a chance to share your fantasies and explore your desires in a safe and consensual way. Plus, it can help you and your partner feel more connected, especially in long-distance relationships. (Think of it as foreplay for the next time you do get together IRL.)

Getting started with sexting apps

For some, just the thought of sending an explicit message or racy photo can be intimidating. (And that's OK!) Fortunately, there are so many apps and resources out there to help the most novice sexters feel empowered and confident. If you need some inspiration or tips, Mashable's Beginner's Guide To Sexting is a good place to start. Just remember: Sexting is supposed to be consensual, fun, and sexy.

To help you find the right app for your sexting style, we've narrowed down the best options in 2024. Based on our research and hands-on testing (yes, we really used them all), these are the top contenders for the best sexting apps of 2024:

The cast alone is reason to line up for Conclave. The psychological thriller from All Quiet on the Western Front helmer Edward Berger stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini. These talents are so rightfully heralded for their stirring gravitas that what they're doing on-screen together is almost beside the point. However, the secrets at the center of this Vatican-set tale are rich with intrigue, sharp humor, and provocative plot twists. 

Based on Robert Harris' 2016 novel of the same name, Conclave takes the masses behind the velvet curtain for one of the Catholic church's most secretive traditions, the choosing of a new pope. When a pontiff dies, cardinal electors from around the globe convene in a papal conclave, where they vote for one of their ranks to ascend to become the earthly head of the church. 

Whatever conversations, debates, or politicking are had in this meeting remain behind closed doors — as do the cardinals themselves — while the world watches for them to send up white smoke to indicate the vote, and if the requisite two-thirds majority has been achieved. This is all the background a layman needs to enter Conclave. But those who grew up in the faith might find richer meanings in its whispered drama and jolting revelations. 

Ralph Fiennes leads a sensational cast in Conclave.  Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci plays cardinals in the papal conclave in "Conclave." Credit: Focus Features

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A dark amusement might be inherent to seeing the English actor best known for playing the ultra-evil Voldemort in the Harry Potter movies portray a pious cardinal here. Of course, Fiennes has range, having leapt from that theatrical, hissing wizard to the Coen Bros' Hollywood spoof Hail, Caesar!, where he played a precise and annoyed director, to the flamboyant concierge of Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel. Fiennes can do everything from brash to buoyant, and here he is hemmed in by vestments and decorum. But the potential that he could explode brings a ringing tension to Conclave from the start. 

As Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, Fiennes is the film's hero, serving not only as the dean of the conclave, overseeing all its details, but also as an amateur detective, wheedling out the secrets that his brethren hide in hopes of being elected the new pope. This is not expressly in his job description, but when a concerning rumor surfaces as the conclave gathers, he feels compelled to sniff out the truth.

John Lithgow co-stars as Cardinal Tremblay in "Conclave." Credit: Focus Features

Among this college of cardinals are Aldo Bellini (a sublimely serene Stanley Tucci), a soft-spoken progressive who denounces homophobia and promotes a greater role for women in the church. Though an early favorite — as a much-beloved friend to the last pope — Aldo faces off against the ultra-conservative Tedesco (a perfectly pompous Sergio Castellitto), whose agenda is to push the church back into the dark ages with a Latin mass and a vehement rejection of cross-faith acceptance. Also in the mix is the suspiciously conciliatory Tremblay (an intriguingly slippery John Lithgow), the fiery Adeyemi (a snarling Lucian Msamati), and Benitez (a beatific Carlos Diehz), a young cardinal who is totally unknown to the others until the conclave. Among the lot of them, the category of Best Supporting Actor just got stacked, as the resentments, ambition, and resoluteness collide in intrigue and arguments.

Lawrence strives to conduct the conclave with dignity. But as shocking details about his brethren surface, his idealism is challenged with pragmatism. Should he out sins and corruption if it means breaking tradition? Does the end — naming a proper pope — justify the means? And truly, how do you rationalize electing a fallible person to a position that is infallible? 

Conclave is a sophisticated and sharply enthralling thriller. Sergio Castellitto co-stars as Cardinal Tedesco in "Conclave." Credit: Focus Features

This is a movie that understands the complications of Catholicism, where reason collides with belief and human nature with divinity

Here's where I confess I'm a lapsed Catholic of decades. Still, I was swept up in Berger's shrewd direction, which meets the curiosity of those of us to whom the conclave has long been shrouded in mystique and mystery. While the plot of Conclave includes many scandalous elements, the characters are often restrained (or arguably repressed) in their reactions. Even when talking plainly about their personal politics, there's a careful reticence that I recognized from my years in church, its rectories, and Catholic school. 

This culture has a specific way of saying something without saying it. And Peter Straughan's script understands that, executing this delicacy brilliantly. Even the affable Aldo speaks in this hard-to-pin-down manner, saying he doesn't think parishioners should be told they have to have 10 kids, instead of saying what he really means: He'd be a pope who'd support birth control. That would be too radical to utter in the Vatican, and Conclave is well aware. Yet this keen reluctance to be frank also bolsters the film's central conflicts, where what lies beneath the surface could be prove polarizing. 

Behind these men's bright-red robes and regal posturing, they are as flawed as the rest of us (maybe more so). Conclave doesn't treat this as some sort of shock unto itself. Instead, the film holds a great deal of empathy for its complicated cardinals. In the terms of Catholicism, it may hate the sin, but not the sinner. Yet as our humble, fallible conduit, we see Lawrence struggle with this brand of radical acceptance. We see his eyes ignite when he uncovers treachery. We feel his heart break when a skeleton clatters out of a metaphorical closet. In these moments of internal turmoil, it's easy to imagine the Oscar sizzle reel for Best Actor.

Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes snoops in "Conclave." Credit: Focus Features

Not everyone is as willing to forgive, and here is where Rossellini, as a nun who serves in the Vatican, excels. Where these men swan around as lords of the manor, she and her sisters are to be seen but not heard. But they'll hear her. The humor of Conclave is subtle, carefully picking its punchlines to lighten its hard-hitting homily. But when Rossellini's Sister Agnes delivers a tight-lipped speech before the cardinals and completes it with a curt bow, that small gesture hits like a mic drop. It's liberating in its fine-point hilarity. 

In the end, Conclave is not a story about sin or secrets but about moving forward. When the dust has settled — or the smoke has risen — who will we be with the choices we've made? The best bit of Berger's film might be that it gives a nuanced answer for its hero, Lawrence, who holds the film's quiet final moment with a poignant power. But for the viewer, we are left to wonder not just what we might have done, but who we are in the face of the film's final reveal. 

Conclave is now streaming on Peacock.

UPDATE: Dec. 12, 2024, 11:34 a.m. EST "Conclave" was reviewed out of the Toronto International Film Festival. This review has been updated to reflect its streaming accessibility.

The Amazon Echo was first released in 2015 and has come a long way since. The brand’s line-up is expansive and includes a variety of Echos. Do you want to be able to video call your family with Echo Show 10's sleek swivel screen? Maximize affordability with the Echo Pop? Or upgrade your kids' rooms with an Echo device just for kids?

Smart speakers like Amazon's Echo family of products are a great starting point if you’re looking to get a smarter home because they're affordable and easy to use. Beyond just playing music, they can help you find your next binge-watch, read the news, and adjust room settings.

SEE ALSO: Rate your favorite smart home gear for a chance to win a $250 Amazon gift card

A common dilemma shoppers face is "to Echo or to Echo Dot?" The Echo (Fourth Generation) and Echo Dot (Fifth Generation) are very similar at first glance. Given that the latest Dot was released in 2022 and the 4th Gen Echo came out two years before that, there are obvious technical upgrades in the Dot that don't exist in its bulkier predecessor.

But more importantly, when is a good time to shop for these devices? Yes, they're affordable, the Echo starts at $99.99 and the Dot $49.99, however, you don't need to — and shouldn't — buy them at full price. The best time to buy is during shopping holidays like Black Friday, when you'll find Echos at their lowest prices ever. We've seen the Echo Dot go as low as $22.99.

The Echo (Fourth Generation) and Echo Dot (Fifth Generation) fall in the middle of the Echo line-up. The Echo Show, is at the top of the range, with its motion-tracking screen, while the Echo Pop is even smaller and more budget-friendly than the Dot.

Bad at making uninformed choices? Same here. To help you out, we compared these smart speakers side by side. Here’s everything you need to know if you’re deciding between the Echo and the Echo Dot.

Good things come in colorful packages. Credit: Stacia Datskovska / Mashable Difference between Echo and Echo DotAmazon Echo smart speaker review (4th Gen) Amazon Echo (4th Gen) $54.99 at Amazon
$99.99 Save $45.00 Shop Now

The Echo weighs 34.2 ounces and its dimensions are 5.7 x 5.7 x 5.2 inches. On its round exterior, you'll find an action button, volume buttons, a mic-off button, a light-up ring, a power port, and a 3.5-millimeter audio output. With three distinct color options currently available at Amazon, this under-$100 device is sure to fit your home decor seamlessly.

Setting up the Echo is also seamless and you can use it within minutes. Indeed, the only things inside the package are the device itself, a power adapter, and two guides. The setup guide is highly visual, which is always a perk. To begin, you have to download the Alexa app and sign in. No, you don't need to have a Prime account to use an Amazon smart device (though its range of possibilities surely increases for those of us who are Prime members). Plug in the included power adapter into the Echo and then plug the Echo into a wall outlet. The light ring on the Echo will turn blue when it’s on and then orange when Alexa greets you. Next, connect the Echo to your home WiFi network. The Alexa app will then walk you through the rest of the setup process, including customizing your "wake word," mastering the pronunciation of your name, allowing access to phone contacts, and more.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best Echo devices to add to your smart home

Once all that is ready, you're good to go. Give your newest smart home companion a warm welcome: After all, it will be your go-to from now on for blasting music, waking you up in the morning, providing news and weather reports, calling loved ones, and so much more.

Amazon Echo Dot smart speaker review (5th Gen) Echo Dot (5th Gen, 2022 release) $22.99 at Amazon
$49.99 Save $27.00 Shop Now

The Echo Dot takes smart living to a new level. Though this device is two years newer than the aforementioned Echo (4th Gen), it's actually $50 cheaper.

The Echo Dot weighs 10.7 ounces, a third of the size of the Echo, and its dimensions are 3.9 x 3.9 x 3.5 inches. This baby can easily fit on countertops, shelves, or nightstands. Similar to the Echo, it boasts an action button, a microphone-off button, volume controls, a light ring, and a power port. It pretty much comes with the same color options as the bigger Echo, except for its deep sea blue shade being slightly darker than the Echo's twilight blue shade. Potayto, potahto.

Setup is also a breeze with the Echo Dot. First, plug it into a wall outlet and open the Alexa app to start setup. (You’ll need to download the Alexa app on your smartphone beforehand.) Once you open the app, select “devices” and then select the “+” icon. Follow the on-screen instructions from that point on and personalize the device to your liking.

What you get when you order an Amazon Echo Dot. Credit: Stacia Datskovska / Mashable Smarter, easier living featuresEcho

The Amazon Echo functions as your personal butler and best friend. Since it's a smart speaker that connects to the Alexa Voice Service, you use it to do everything from playing the latest hits to purchasing some kitchen staples to killing your boredom with a round of Jeopardy! Advanced sound technology helps the Echo immediately respond to you and recognize your voice. In fact, during the setup process on the Alexa app, Echo learns your voice's cadences and pitch by making you repeat some sample prompts. Impressive.

You can tell Alexa exactly what to put on your grocery list and manage the items on your Alexa app. Credit: Screenshot: Amazon

Prompt response: Beamforming technology, noise-cancellation, and seven microphones will enable the Echo to hear you from your nearby location. Just speak the wake word and say commands like “Alexa, find an Amazon Music playlist,” or “Alexa, call Dad” for immediate assistance. Something to note: Your speaker does not by any means have to be called Alexa. Other fun options include Echo, Ziggy, or Santa. Referring to your device as that last option unlocks a whole new Ho-Ho-Ho personality for it. Another thing to note: Amazon is getting better about accessibility, in the form of Adaptive Listening. This feature, when enabled, essentially gives you more time to finish speaking — Alexa's way of accommodating speech patterns like stuttering.

Beats master: Of course the Echo can play music, but it’s more than a basic speaker. It comes with Dolby premium sound that fills a whole room — with deep bass and clear high notes alike. If you have two Echo devices in one room, you can actually tell one of them to "play music everywhere," which will amplify sound to even higher levels and make for an actual at-home clubbing experience. Word of caution, however — Alexa didn't cooperate with me, strangely, when I tried to test out this feature. For those of us who are highly picky about music streaming services, Amazon lets you set default options which you can change at any time. Do you want Alexa to pick music from Apple Music but podcasts from Spotify? No problem, there's an option for that.

Hands-free communication: If you need to message or call loved ones, the Echo has your back. You can use Alexa to communicate with people via phone or text on the Echo, without grabbing your smartphone. Plus, Alexa can also make household announcements across Amazon Echo devices at home, so your family knows if dinner is ready or guests are arriving. Use the Drop-In feature to connect to other Amazon Echo devices or the Announcement feature to record cute messages in your own voice (accompanied by a range of sound effect offerings, including dinner bell, kiss, trumpet, as well as, a bit alarmingly, toilet flush and fart).

Control smart devices: If you have other smart devices that work with Alexa, you can easily control them with Echo's Zigbee smart home hub. Just ask Alexa to dim the lights, adjust the room temperature, or turn on a compatible smart-plug-connected appliance. The best thing about this? You don’t have to press any buttons, and you can even engineer routines for yourself ahead of time to set these processes in motion at a certain time in your home.

The Echo can double as a night light Credit: Stacia Datskovska / Mashable Echo Dot

Making the smart living switch isn’t always budget-friendly, but the Echo Dot is affordable and provides great voice control features. These features aren't all that different from what you get with the Echo. The only true upgrades are new motion sensors that let you touch-control the device, the 1.73-inch front-firing speaker (versus a woofer and tweeters), and "Eero mesh network support so the Echo Dot can serve as a node for your Eero network if you use one," according to our sister site, PCMag. Use the Dot to receive reminders, save cookie recipes to your app for future reference, bask your room in a night light glow, communicate with friends and family, soothe yourself with some white noise, and beyond.

Listening companion: We’ve all tried the conventional speaker setup, which typically involves too many outlets and wires. Echo Dot offers the opposite experience for all your listening needs. You can use your voice to play music through streaming services, including Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Spotify. Plus, Audible and other media forms are available on the Echo Dot. Ask Alexa to find the perfect playlist or podcast, and you’ll have something to listen to when you cook in the kitchen, lounge on the couch, or work out in your living room. Another extra-cool feature? The Dot will start playing deep sleep music when it detects sounds of snoring — if you enable it to do so.

Task help: There are times we wish that we had a personal assistant for little things, including making lists and scheduling calendars. The Echo Dot helps make your everyday routine (and entertainment) more seamless with voice control. Try saying: "Alexa, set a timer for five minutes," "Alexa, play the Reuters news briefing," "Alexa, open my daily horoscope," or "Alexa, find my phone." The possibilities are endless. Be sure to reference the "more" tab on the Alexa app to browse through all of the Echo Dot's offerings.

Use the Dot to send messages to houseguests, remind you of tasks, and more! Credit: Screenshot: Amazon

Converse with and check in on loved ones: Like the Echo, the Echo Dot allows you to send messages, make phone calls, and use other Echo devices as intercoms. Enjoy hands-free communication with loved ones and make announcements via Drop-In to keep everyone in touch at home. If you have elderly parents at home, you can also take advantage of Alexa Together — Amazon's remote caregiving offering that does cost extra but allows you to connect compatible fall detection devices to the Echo Dot, see snapshots of your loved ones' daily interactions with Alexa, get 24/7 access to trained agents who can call 911 in case of an emergency, create gentle reminders such as "take your pills," and more.

Monitor your smart home environment: The Echo Dot also offers the option to monitor smart devices at home. If you have light bulbs, thermostats, or streaming media players that are compatible with Alexa, you can control their activity with the Echo Dot. Just speak to Alexa in your room of choice, and you can easily monitor lighting, temperature, and more with verbal commands. Also, if you enable sound detection routines, you can program a particular sound (dog barking, oven dinging, door opening) to trigger a certain Alexa Routine. This feature has an accessibility bonus since it can be used as a way to provide visual cues to those with hearing challenges. For instance, "if Alexa detects running water for a period of time... she can trigger the living room smart lights to flash on and off, serving as a visual reminder to shut off the faucet," as reported in USA Today.

Don't let the Dot's size fool you — it's mighty smart. Credit: Stacia Datskovska / Mashable Price and competitionEcho

At $99.99, the Echo is moderately priced, but it comes with benefits that go beyond other smart speakers. With its high-tech sound features, including Dolby audio, you’ll be able to enjoy your favorite beats at the right volume. When you’re entertaining guests, you can engage the multi-room music feature to turn your pad into a dance floor (adjusting bass settings accordingly). In addition to playing music, the Echo allows you to control smart devices and communicate with loved ones via voice control. It also comes with a skills range so extensive that it might take you months to try them all out.

The Echo comes with a one-year limited warranty that covers defects in materials and workmanship. If you would like additional protection, you can buy an extended warranty separately at Amazon.

In terms of competition, the $99.99 Apple HomePod mini can be considered a pretty close match (at least price-wise). It's teeny compared to the Echo, though, and a larger/more advanced Apple smart speaker — the HomePod — will cost you $299 (see our full review of the Apple Homepod). While this competitor might be a better choice for Apple fans, due to its easy iOS compatibility, Siri isn't as smart or loyal of an assistant as Alexa in our opinion.

Echo Dot

For those on a technology budget, the 5th Gen Echo Dot delivers all the smart speaker benefits at a fraction of the price. At $49.99, it’s more affordable than other Amazon Echo devices (despite being the newest Dot) and still has desirable features like advanced voice recognition, smart device control, and assistance with small tasks via Alexa.

Unlike the Echo, the Echo Dot only comes with a 90-day limited warranty. It’s applicable to defects in materials and workmanship and you can contact Amazon’s Customer Service for assistance. This warranty, too, can be extended to a one-year, two-year, or even three-year plan for an additional fee.

If we're talking about what's available on the smart speaker market that can compare to the Dot, the Google-Assistant-powered Nest Mini (2nd Generation) immediately comes to mind, as it also costs $49.99. The Nest Mini is cute as a button (and weighs almost as much). It's compatible with streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, and iHeart Radio, as well as Youtube, has smart home pairing with Arlo, Nest, Ring, and other appliances, and it allows you to voice-purchase essentials from storefronts that aren't limited to Amazon. Still, with the Dot's new-and-improved front-firing speaker, there's no question that it wins the contest when it comes to quality audio. Also, with its upgraded temperature and movement sensors, the Dot seems to be leading the smart home game. I mean, what other speaker will listen for the sound of broken glass and immediately alert you to a potential robbery happening when you're MIA?

Clearly, the Echo is way bigger than the Echo Dot (reflected in their price difference). Credit: Stacia Datskovska / Mashable Privacy concerns

With all Amazon Echo devices comes concern about privacy. In the past, according to what reporter Jack Morse wrote for Mashable a few years back, "Alexa has been known to record people and rooms even when there's no wake word spoken intentionally — or spoken at all." The fact that it can be listening in on your most private conversations — or else sneakily gather info like a credit card number you say when purchasing something over the phone — is legitimately scary.

Amazon has realized that tons of people have been turning away from their Echo product line because of this very risk. That's why now, on the Alexa app, you can review your daily voice history and delete anything you don't vibe with, manage the access to data certain skills have, and more. On the exterior of both the 4th Gen Echo and 5th Gen Echo Dot, you can also find a mic-off button that will prevent any audio input from reaching Alexa. For more information about how Amazon handles user privacy, check out its Q&A on the matter.

So, to Echo or to Echo Dot?

If you want a large smart speaker that delivers high-quality sound, allows you to engage in hands-free control, and use your voice to communicate with loved ones, the $99.99 4th Gen Echo is a good call. Another perk of this device is that it’s customizable: You can choose a decorative shell to compliment your home decor vibe. Plus, it works with other Amazon Echo devices for the ultimate sound setup whenever you need it.

If you don’t want to fork over a lot of cash for a smart speaker, the Echo Dot is a great pick — especially considering it's newer than the 4th Gen Echo. At only $49.99, it’s a steal compared to other Amazon-connected devices and offers the same smart speaker benefits... and then some.

15% OFF: Red Lobster's $50 gift card is discounted by 15% at Amazon, dropping its price to $42.50.

Opens in a new window Credit: Red Lobster Red Lobster Gift Card $42.50 at Amazon
$50.00 Save $7.50 Get Deal

The holidays are fast approaching, and if you're still looking for some gift ideas, Amazon's here to help. For a limited time, it's offering some nice discounts on select gift cards. One of our favorites at the moment is a discount on a $50 Red Lobster gift card, which is a great gift for those who love seafood and delicious Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

This $50 Red Lobster gift card has a 15% discount right now at Amazon, dropping its price to $42.50. Amazon also has a notice above the 'Add to Cart' button that says it'll arrive 10 days before Christmas, so there's no need to worry about any delays before the holidays.

SEE ALSO: Score a free $30 gift card when you buy the 256GB Meta Quest 3S from Best Buy

This limited-time deal won't last long, so save on this $50 Red Lobster gift card before the deal is gone and enjoy some seafood this holiday season.

Amazon has even more that's worth exploring ahead of the holidays in its virtual Holiday Shop. There, you can see the retailer's top 100 holiday gift ideas, which range from tech to toys and so much more. Many of these gifts will have notices similar to this gift card that will let you know when it will arrive before the holidays, so you can plan out your shopping accordingly.

BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE: As of Dec. 13, Best Buy is offering a "buy one, get one free" deal on Samsung TVs. If you buy a select Samsung 75-inch TV, you'll get a 32-inch TV for free.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Buy One, Get One Free on Samsung TVs at Best Buy Get Deal

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are dead, long live Best Buy's doorbuster deals.

If you've been waiting for an opportunity to kit out your house with top-quality TVs, the latest doorbuster deal from Best Buy is for you. As of Dec. 13, Best Buy is giving away a free 32-inch Samsung class TV with any purchase of a select 75-inch Samsung class TV. And better yet, a one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership is thrown in for free.

SEE ALSO: Score a 48-inch LG B4 TV for under $700 at Best Buy

The 32-inch model usually costs $229.99. And the 75-inch TV is down to $549.99 from its list price of $749.99. That's a total discount of over $400 on a pair of top TVs. The 75-inch model would look great in any home, and the 32-inch is an excellent option for any smaller spaces.

"Buy one, get one free" deals like this don't tend to stick around for very long. If you've been hoping to upgrade your TV setup, we recommend taking advantage of this limited-time offer at Best Buy.

The best deals to watch 'Joker: Folie à Deux' at a glance: BEST MAX DEAL Max (With Ads) annual subscription $99.99 per year (save 16%) Get Deal BEST DEAL WITH NO ADS Max Ad-Free annual subscription $169.99/year (save 16%) Get Deal BEST FOR CRICKET CUSTOMERS Max (With Ads) Free for Cricket customers on the $60/month unlimited plan (save $9.99/month) Learn More BEST FOR STUDENTS Max Student $4.99 per month for 12 months (save 50%) Get Deal BEST NON-STREAMING OPTION Buy 'Joker: Folie à Deux' on Prime Video $12.99 (save $7) Get Deal

Todd Phillips' ambitious sequel and box office dud Joker: Folie à Deux seeks to find a new audience this week with its official streaming debut. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, the film was met with some rough reviews upon its theatrical release. Streaming is a different ball game, though, and could be the platform that finally puts the divisive film in front of the right audience.

If you missed the Joker sequel in theaters, it's officially available to stream as of Friday, Dec. 13. Here's everything you need to know.

What is Joker 2 about?

The musical sequel to the 2019 supervillain origin story, Joker: Folie à Deux sees Joaquin Phoenix reprise his role as clown-faced criminal Arthur Fleck slash Joker. Now institutionalized at Arkham State Hospital and awaiting trial for his crimes, Joker meets fellow patient Lee Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga). Sharing his affinity for violence and mayhem, sparks fly immediately. Most of the film then sees Arthur enduring a trial while escaping into his imagination to sing, frolic, and go on murderous sprees with Lee.

Joker 2 also stars Oscar nominees Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener, alongside Zazie Beetz, reprising her role from the first film.

Check out the official trailer below:

Is the Joker sequel worth watching?

There are some sequels that get it right, like Smile 2 and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and there are others that swing and miss. We found that Joker: Folie à Deux is the latter — and we're not the only ones. Or, as Mashable's reviewer Kristy Puchko wrote, "This sequel feels like a punishment."

On Rotten Tomatoes, the Joker sequel has just a 32 percent critic and audience rating. Its box office debut was largely a flop. Warner Bros. sources claim the film needed to make $375 million worldwide to break even; its worldwide box office tally peaked at $206 million.

Of course, like every other film, whether it's worth watching is subjective. You might love it. It could end up becoming a cult classic years from now. If you're a Gaga fan, you'll probably want to watch it simply for her star power. For what it's worth, several big names actually praised Joker 2, including Quentin Tarantino and John Waters, so it can't be that bad.

Check out our full review of Joker: Folie à Deux.

How to watch Joker: Folie à Deux at home Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

The Joker sequel became available to watch at home via video-on-demand sites like Prime Video and Apple TV as of Oct. 29. You can purchase the film for your digital collection or rent it for 30 days. If you'd rather stream it instead, keep scrolling to learn more about its streaming debut.

Note: Renting a film gives you 30 days to watch and just 48 hours to finish once you begin.

You can purchase and rent the film at the following retailers:

• Prime Video — buy for $12.99 (save $7)

• Apple TV — buy for $12.99 (save $7), rent for $5.99

• Fandango at Home (Vudu) — buy for $19.99, rent for $5.99

• YouTube — buy for $19.99, rent for $5.99

• Google Play — buy for $19.99, rent for $5.99

Opens in a new window Credit: Prime Video Buy 'Joker: Folie à Deux' on VOD $12.99 at Prime Video
$19.99 Save $7.00 Watch Now Is Joker 2 streaming?

As a Warner Bros. film, Joker: Folie à Deux is set to make its streaming debut on Max, the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer on Dec. 13. Yes, that's Friday the 13th (what could go wrong?). The original Joker film from 2019 is also streaming on Max, so you can make it a double feature. Max subscriptions start at $9.99 per month, but there are a few ways you can save some money on your plan. Check out the best Max streaming deals below.

Best Max streaming deal for most people: Save 16% on Max with ads annual subscription Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max (with ads) yearly subscription $99.99 per year (save 16%) Watch Now

If ads aren't a deal breaker for you, Max will only cost you $9.99 per month. You can easily just sign up for a single month, watch Joker 2 and whatever else you want to within that time frame, then cancel before you're charged for another month. Or you could save some money by sticking around for the long haul. An annual plan with ads will run you $99.99 per year, which breaks down to just $8.33 per month instead — about a 16% savings compared to the monthly plan. The only downside is that you have to splurge on a full year upfront.

Best Max deal with no ads: Save 16% on a Max Ad-Free annual subscription Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max (No Ads) annual subscription $169.99 per year (save 16%) Watch Now

Can't stand ads interrupting your viewing experience? You have two options to choose from: Max Ad-Free and Max Ultimate Ad-Free. The basic ad-free tier costs $16.99 per month, while the Max Ultimate tier costs $20.99 per month. However, we recommend choosing a yearly plan instead, as you'll save about 16%. It'll only cost you $169.99 per year (about $14.17 per month) for Max Ad-Free or $209.99 per year (about $17.50 per month) for Max Ultimate.

Note: Both tiers offer an ad-free viewing experience, but the Ultimate tier takes things a step further with 4K Ultra HD video quality and Dolby Atmos immersive audio.

Best Max deal for Cricket customers: Free Max with ads for customers on the $60/month unlimited plan Opens in a new window Credit: Cricket / Max Max (with ads) Free for Cricket customers on the $60/month plan Watch Now

If ever there was a reason to sign up for Cricket Wireless, here it is: Cricket customers on the $60 per month unlimited plan get Max with ads for free (a $99.99 value). If you're on the $60 per month plan, just head over to the Max app (or navigate to Max.com), choose Cricket as your provider, and enter your credentials to log in. Then you're free to watch whatever you want, whenever you want — including Joker: Folie à Deux if you choose. Peep the terms and conditions on Cricket's website to learn more.

Best Max deal for students: Save 50% on Max with ads monthly for one year Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max Student $4.99 per month for 12 months Get Deal

College students can get 50% off a Max monthly subscription with ads for an entire year, dropping the price down to only $4.99 per month. As long as you can verify your student status through UNiDAYS, you'll get a unique discount code that lets you knock half off the full price of Max.

Best bundle deal: Get Max, Disney+, and Hulu for up to 38% off Opens in a new window Credit: Disney / Hulu / Max Disney+, Hulu, and Max $16.99 per month (with ads), $29.99 per month (no ads) Get Deal

It may not be the cheapest way to watch Joker 2, but you can definitely get more bang for your buck by snagging the bundle deal that includes Max, Hulu, and Disney+. Enjoy all three libraries with ads for only $16.99 (reg. $25.97) per month or ad-free for $29.99 (reg. $48.97) per month, which is up to 38% in savings.

Listen, I, too, tried to be loyal to physical books. While you can't replace the feel of paper, the beauty of bound hardcovers, and the ritual of turning the page, an e-reader brings convenience and portability that, yes, a book can't beat. Sure, you can throw a book in your tote bag, but what about an entire library?

SEE ALSO: We tried every Amazon Kindle to find the best for every bibliophile

When you think of e-readers, your first thought is likely an Amazon Kindle, and while it wasn't the first e-reader to hit the market, it is indeed the one to dominate the market. While Kindles are great — there's certainly no denying that — there is a whole world of e-readers that are equally wonderful.

If you're gearing up for the holidays, there's no better gift for the book lover than an e-reader, and these are the best ones you can buy.

Which e-reader is the best? From left to right: Kindle Paperwhite, Nook GlowLight 4 Plus, Kindle Scribe Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Choosing the right e-reader is a decision based on price, the need for special features, and where you get your books from. For instance, most e-readers are easily compatible with Libby but maybe you also want to take advantage of programs like Kindle Unlimited.

To decide what kind of e-reader is right for you, consider the overall design that best suits you. Is a touchscreen okay, or do you need buttons? If you want to take your e-reader near water, whether it be a bathtub or a pool, you'll also need to make sure you have a waterproof device.

Plus, it's worth considering special features. Are you an annotator who wants to write in the margins of your e-book? Or are you sick of multiple devices and need a tablet that you can read and stream on? All of these questions help you determine which e-reader or tablet will blend into your habits.

Can you read on an iPad? The iPad Mini is just the right size for reading compared to a larger model like the iPad 9th generation. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Yes, you can read on an iPad, and as an iPad reader, I highly recommend it. iPads come with the Apple Books app. However, other reading apps, including Libby and the Kindle app, give access to the world of books.

For this reason, I included an iPad in my testing. The iPad Mini made my list because it is the perfect size to feel like you're reading a paperback novel versus larger iPad models like the 9th generation (pictured above), which feel like reading a clunky magazine.

Featured Video For You Kindle Paperwhite vs. Kobo Clara Colour: Which one is better?

The 2024 Game Awards took place in Los Angeles' Peacock Theater on Thursday night, with developers travelling from across the globe to celebrate this year in video games.

Now in its 10th year, The Game Awards have become known for new game announcements and previews as much as they are for celebrity appearances, weird marketing stunts, and forcing timid game developers to awkwardly deliver speeches in front of thousands of people. 

Here are all the biggest announcements from The Game Awards 2024.

SEE ALSO: 'Split Fiction' hands-on: A co-op adventure through sci-fi and fantasy worlds The Witcher IV announced, almost a decade after last game

The 2024 Game Awards started out strong with the announcement of The Witcher IV from CD Projeckt Red. The fourth game in the Witcher series, The Witcher IV will break from its predecessors by following former supporting character Ciri rather than previous protagonist Geralt — and it looks as though she's shaping up to be just as formidable a monster slayer as he is.

The Witcher IV will be a single-player open-world roleplaying game though, with CD Project Red stating that it "marks the beginning of a new saga with Ciri as a protagonist." This project is the studio's first new game since 2020's Cyberpunk 2077, and the first new title in the Witcher series since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2015. 

Elden Ring co-op spin-off Elden Ring: Nightreign unveiled

Considering how popular FromSoftware's Elden Ring was in 2022, it's unsurprising that we're getting more games in the same universe. What is surprising is that Elden Ring: Nightreign will be a three-person co-op action survival game, and is a spin-off rather than a sequel. Fortunately it will also support singleplayer, so you won't always need to wait for your friends to play.

Elden Ring: Nightreign will have players work together to survive the "everchanging" land of Limveld and level up one of eight characters, each of whom have their own special abilities. Survive for three days, and you'll have to face the dangerous Nightlords.

Though the game will have many of the same weapons and enemies found in Elden Ring, the world will be different in every playthrough. New key locations, enemies, and weapons will appear or shift around in each new game, FromSoftware stating that players will have to overcome "the map itself."

Elden Ring: Nightreign is currently planned for release on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC in 2025.

Untitled game from Shadow of the Colossus developer teased

We don't even know the title of this game, but its pedigree already makes it one that many people will want to keep an eye on. The Game Awards offered a brief glimpse at a new game from genDESIGN and its founder Fumito Ueda, the creator behind notable titles such as Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian.

Borderlands 4 offers official first look

Borderlands 4 was previously announced with a teaser trailer in August, but now we have our official first look at 2K Games' next entry in the popular franchise. 

The new first-person loot shooter will pick up after the events of Borderlands 3, when — spoiler alert — Siren Lilith averted a disastrous collision by teleporting Pandora's moon Elpis to an unknown location. It turns out that said location was the atmosphere above Kairos, which did not do great things for the protective barrier surrounding the planet.

Borderlands 4 positions players as a Vault Hunter searching for treasure, wealth, and glory after crash landing on Kairos several years later. It may not all be hedonistic self-interest though. Players will contend with The Timekeeper, Kairos' ruthless dictator and leader of an army of synthetic soldiers known as The Order. Also opposing him are the Rippers led by their formidable Queen Callis, making the situation on Kairos volatile to say the least.

The game will support solo players as well as co-op games, with two-player local split screen or up to four players online. Borderlands 4 is scheduled to arrive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in 2025.

New Virtua Fighter game from Yakuza's studio in development

Virtua Fighter is a hugely influential fighting game series. Considered the first ever 3D fighting game, the game has informed and inspired numerous others since its first title was released in 1993. Even so, there hasn't been a new Virtua Fighter game since Virtua Fighter 5 in 2007. This is about to change.

SEGA announced a new Virtua Fighter game during Thursday's Game Awards, this time led by Like a Dragon/Yakuza developer Ryu Ga Gotoku. In a subsequent livestream, SEGA President and COO Shuji Utsumi revealed that the original Virtua Fighter team has also returned to work on the game for the first time since 2006.

"For a number of years now, we have been working on this project together with the Virtua Fighter developers as a united team," said Ryu Ga Gotoku director Masayoshi Yokoyama (translated from Japanese to English). "[It will] incorporate the game technologies that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has built and refined over the years, as well as Virtua Fighter's signature full-contact action systems."

The Last of Us developers reveal retro sci-fi game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet

The Game Awards traditionally end with "just one more thing," a big, exciting reveal to close out the night. This year that reveal was a brand new game in a brand new IP from The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog, offering a cool '80s retro sci-fi aesthetic.

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet follows bounty hunter Jordan A. Mun (Tati Gabrielle), who pursues her latest target to the mysterious planet of Sempiria. Nobody has left Sempiria's orbit in over 600 years, with all communication from it having gone dark. Now Jordan must keep her wits about her and fight hard if she wants to be the first person in six centuries to escape.

The sci-fi adventure game will be scored by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who have previously provided the soundtracks for films such as The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, and Challengers.

We don't know much else about Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet yet. However, Naughty Dog Studio Head Neil Druckmann states that it "lives up to the Naughty Dog tradition of creating an emotional, character-driven epic journey," and that it will be "the deepest gameplay in Naughty Dog’s history."

Astro Bot won Game of the Year 2024

For many gamers, The Game Awards' main appeal is its slew of new game reveals. Even so, the event is technically an awards ceremony, with one game ultimately taking home the title of Game of the Year.

The 2024 Game Awards' Game of the Year went to platformer Astro Bot, developed by Team Asobi. Though Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth led the nominations with seven each, the former took home the most trophies after winning Best Game Direction, Best Action/Adventure Game, and Best Family Game as well.

TL;DR: Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 is just £22.06 (reg. £393.56) through 22 December.

Opens in a new window Credit: Retail King Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows £22.06 at the Mashable Shop
£393.56 Save £371.50 Get Deal

If you're unhappy with your coding process, a software switch could be in order. Elevate your coding experience with Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows. It was designed to help you code faster, more accurately, and across multiple platforms — and a lifetime device license is only £22.06 through 22 December.

This powerful Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is packed with features that allow you to code smarter, build collaboratively, and bring complex projects to life. From entry-level developers to seasoned programmers, Visual Studio Pro 2022 has the tools you need to tackle any project efficiently.

One of the most helpful features of Visual Studio Pro 2022 is its support for cross-platform development. You’re not limited to one platform. Instead, you can build mobile, web, and desktop applications using the same IDE.

With .NET MAUI, you can craft cross-platform mobile and desktop applications, while Blazor lets you build responsive web UIs in C#. And for those working with Linux, Visual Studio’s debugging and testing capabilities for .NET and C++ apps make it incredibly versatile.

Need to make quick changes on the fly? Hot reload allows you to edit running ASP.NET pages without restarting, saving valuable time and boosting productivity.

Visual Studio Pro 2022 also includes tools like IntelliCode and CodeLens, offering unparalleled productivity boosts. IntelliCode is an AI-powered tool that understands the context of your code, completing lines or blocks with accurate suggestions. It even anticipates your next move, making coding faster and smoother.

The CodeLens feature provides valuable insights directly into your code editor. It shows you information like recent changes, authors, tests, and commit history at a glance, allowing you to gain a deep understanding of your codebase and make informed decisions without interrupting your flow.

Pick up a device license that never expires when you get Microsoft Visual Studio Pro 2022 on sale for £22.06 (reg. £393.56). This price is only available through 22 December at the Mashable Shop.

Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows - £22.06 | Get It Here

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