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Best education deal: StackSkills Unlimited for $20

Posted on: October 30, 2023

Save on lifetime access to StackSkills Unlimited at the Mashable Shop, now $19.97, and learn a new skill.
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TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to StackSkills Unlimited is on sale for just $19.97 through October 31. That’s over 90% in savings on unlimited access to over 1,000 courses.

Staying competitive at work is a necessity. It’s wise to upgrade your skills professionally and personally to gain an edge and stay sharp. But who has time to do the legwork to find classes, pay a good amount of money, and then make time to get there? StackSkills Unlimited has changed the way individuals can learn and develop their abilities. Through October 31, you have a chance to seize a lifetime subscription to this platform for the incredibly affordable price of just $19.97.

Whether you want to learn for business or personal purposes, StackSkills has a lot to sink your teeth into — all from the comfort of your home. With over 1,000 courses, people from all walks of life can learn something new and valuable through these courses. And new classes are added each month to refresh the content.

From marketing and web design to landing your first tech job and more, professional content is far-reaching and could help you learn and grow at work. For example, courses like Excel Pro Tips could help you streamline your workday.

If you’re looking for more of a personal growth path, there are a lot of interesting courses to check out. From fitness to time management, traveling, and how to double your productivity, most of us can easily find multiple courses to try.

StackSkills employs over 350 passionate instructors to help you to elevate your life. You’ll have access to a user-friendly progress tracker and quarterly instructor question-and-answer webinars to round out your experience.

This subscription makes a terrific gift for the lifelong learner. And at this price, it’s a budget-friendly way to give a gift that wows.

Pick up a lifetime subscription to StackSkills Unlimited for $19.97 (reg. $1,495) through October 31.

Prices subject to change.

Credit: StackSkills

StackSkills Unlimited: Lifetime Access

$19.97 at the Mashable Shop

Tech / Technology

The best part of ‘Foe’ is how the world is ending

Posted on: October 30, 2023

Garth Davis’ dystopian sci-fi thriller “Foe” shows the end of the world happening slowly but surely, thanks to climate change.
A man rests his head on a woman's shoulder. Both look forlorn.

Garth Davis’ dystopian sci-fi, Foe, has been getting some lukewarm reviews. But there’s one surefire element of the film, based on Iain Reid’s 2018 novel, that actually deserves its moment in the burning, burning sun — and it’s not necessarily the beautiful people feeling all the feelings within it.

It’s the way the world as we’ve known it is actually ending, often incrementally but surely. And you’d better believe it’s all thanks to climate change.

How is the world ending in Foe?

Set in the year 2065, Foe is a work of speculative fiction that presents an Earth that has become almost but not entirely inhospitable, when fresh water and inhabitable land are scarce. They’re not human rights but instead the most important capital a human being can own. It’s Mad Max without the steampunk or gang violence.

Reid’s novel keeps specifics of the apocalypse off the page, but the film, which Reid and Davis co-wrote, gives details at the top. In this version of America, the government’s Federal Climate Alert System has become useless. Human displacement sits at the centre of the global climate crisis, with nations uprooted by extreme weather events. Air quality has declined and respiratory conditions have risen. People are encouraged to stay indoors to avoid the extreme heat. Folks live off-grid if they can, using solar panels and reusing their waste water, but it’s all a little too late. At the core of the narrative, humanoid AI robot substitutes have replaced human labour in many industries.

Quietly surviving on a barren, isolated Midwest property is married couple Hen and Junior, played by Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. In this future, inhabitable land is mainly owned by companies or governments and used for farming; as for the rest, inheritance rules, as Junior’s property is fifth generation-owned. Above the dusty, cracked earth of the property, extreme weather events from intense dust storms to extreme heat are an everyday occurrence. Only one tree survives on the land, kept alive by the couple’s waste water. In fact, water is such a precious commodity that we regularly see Junior and Hen drinking cans of beer instead of water first thing in the morning — perhaps beyond mild hydration, beer doesn’t hurt for dealing with the end of the world, either. Though for someone trying to conserve water, Hen sure has some lengthy shower cries.

A woman lies in bed ignoring a man kissing her shoulder.

Credit: Amazon Studios

Foe shows the end of the world in an isolated, domestic silence for two people, but it’s also not quite ended. At every turn, it seems people are still working hard to keep surviving the harsh conditions. However, Junior and Hen’s quiet, rural life changes with the arrival of a man called Terrance (Aaron Pierre), who works for a government-backed company called OuterMore, wielding a plan to evacuate the planet — but notably slowly.

Plans to move people off-planet to a colossal space station near Earth are well underway, moving away from a “climate migration strategy” to simply getting the hell out of here. Terrance mentions that the moon, Mars, and other planets were possibilities built for the “first wave of temporary settlement”, but due to their distance from Earth and the time it will take to go back and forth to build a new colony there, OuterMore has instead built an enormous planet of its own near Earth and readies humans for permanent relocation to space through years of training.

A man wearing a white shirt stands looking pensive in a low-lit room.

Credit: Amazon Studios

People are chosen randomly through a lottery to participate in the first phase of the space program, known as The Installation, a two-year placement on the station to test its readiness for a whole planet to live on — but Terrance notes Junior’s physical strength as a positive attribute for it. Notably, the program isn’t optional for those chosen, instead functioning as a form of “fortunate conscription”. Through discussions of this station around Junior and Hen’s dining room table, Foe lightly takes aim at the billionaire space race and billion-dollar plans to terraform other planets like Mars. “Why should you be spending money up there when you should be fixing things down here?” Hen asks.

Hollywood disaster films love to cut to the chase.

By no means is Foe the only film to predict the end of the world through climate change and eventual human relocation to space — even in recent years, we’ve seen the likes of 2016 sci-fi Passengers sharing similar scenarios. But it’s something films have only started to really hammer home within the last few decades, with a notable rise in the 2000s. Though scientists had been warning of the coming threat for frustrating decades, and weather disaster films had long rampaged through cinemas, filmmakers finally seemed to harness these legitimate fears in the 2000s and 2010s, punishing earthlings’ blatant disregard for the planet with brutal, extreme weather-driven consequences in films like The Day After Tomorrow, Geostorm, 2012, and the Keanu Reeves remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Not simply allowing viruses and sentient machines to destroy the world as we know it, rising sea levels caused by a warming planet finally got their moment in the 2000s, notably with Steven Spielberg’s 2001 film A.I. Artificial Intelligence — also aligned with Foe in terms of AI human replacements and self-aware robots in the coming apocalypse. In the film, set in the 22nd century, melting Arctic ice causes catastrophic flooding in coastal cities, meaning widespread human displacement, starvation, and death. New York is underwater. The global population plummets and humanoid robots step in for both human labour and companionship because they’re “never hungry and … did not consume resources beyond those of their first manufacture.”

In the book Hollywood Wants to Kill You, Rick Edwards and Dr. Michael Brooks write of Hollywood’s tendency to speed things up when it comes to planetary death by climate change, to get to the dramatically perilous stuff overnight instead of showing how it happens and how we could have stopped it gradually. The authors particularly skewer the films Geostorm and The Day After Tomorrow, which predict an overnight climate overhaul, a catastrophic tipping point that sees the planet plunged into every kind of extreme weather Hollywood can conjure at once.

“It turns out that governments, both Hollywood-imagined and real-life, aren’t really interested in long-term gains that involve short-term pain,” Edwards and Brooks write. The film 2012 also does this, cutting straight to the chase, but at least the movie consistently reiterates that scientists and world leaders have known what’s coming for years.

But one of the most realistic parts of the potential end of the world in Foe is not that we’ll all inevitably shack up with a smokin’ partner with an endless supply of PBRs. It’s that some things will happen slowly, the decline of the planet’s habitable spaces slowly increasing as CO2 levels skyrocket, climate science misinformation continues, and government inaction prevails. (Some impacts, like amplified Western U.S. wildfires and increased flooding, are happening rapidly.)

Foe isn’t a perfect representation of a future Earth, notably being the experience of two sad yet socioeconomically advantaged white people, citizens who by no means are on the frontline of the climate crisis. And notably, climate doomism itself gets us nowhere — we’re not completely up the bone dry creek yet. Despite how things appear, we haven’t passed a point of no return, and earthlings still have the power to either exacerbate the planet’s problems or seal them in stone.

Instead, Foe is a cautionary tale, a hypothetical endgame. One that’s slow but sure, and without action on climate change, could very well be what the end of the Earth looks like.

How to watch: Foe is now in theaters and will be streaming on Prime Video at a later date.

Tech / Technology

15 best action movies on Max for a little adrenaline bump

Posted on: October 30, 2023

Fantastic fights, stupendous stunts, calamitous chases, and climactic spectacle so bonkers it’ll blow your mind — it’s the 15 best action movies on Max (formerly known as HBO).

Want to shake off the doldrums of a long day with something bone-rattlingly exciting? You need an action movie stuffed with fantastic fights, stupendous stunts, calamitous chases, and climactic spectacle so bonkers it’ll blow your mind.

Whether your interests lean to science fiction, fantasy, cop drama, disaster flicks, superheroes, heist thrillers, mythic monsters, family-friendly adventure, or R-rated violence, we’ve got you covered with a top-notch collection of awesome movies.

Here are the 15 best action movies on Max.

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Sean Astin and Elijah Wood in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"

Credit: Moviestore / Shutterstock

J.R.R. Tolkien’s high-fantasy novel is brought to vivid life by Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which began in 2001 with this widely acclaimed first chapter. In the mystical realm of Middle-earth, a humble Hobbit known as Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) takes on an epic quest to destroy a mighty token sought by a powerful sorcerer. Hunted by dark forces, Frodo finds strength in the fellowship that surrounds him. Noble elves, brooding warriors, churlish dwarves, wise wizards, and hungry Hobbits join in the battle to save their world in a celebrated film series that had audiences and critics in awe. Best yet, you can make a DIY movie marathon by adding The Two Towers and The Return of the King to your watch list. — Kristy Puchko, Film Editor

How to watch: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is streaming on Max.

2. The Matrix

Can you see the world inside the code?
Credit: Warner Bros / Village Roadshow Pictures / Kobal / Shutterstock

It’s the 1999 action movie that changed the game. Keanu Reeves stars as Neo, a hacker who tumbles down a digital rabbit hole to discover the world he knows is a simulation. Joining forces with a band of rebels (that includes Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss), he seeks to topple the robot tyrants that have enslaved humanity. This quest leads to eye-popping fights, breath-snatching escapes, and mind-bending reveals. Writing and directing duo Lana and Lilly Wachowski blew critics and audiences away with their incredible vision. Their disturbing sci-fi dystopia is snugly wrapped in a captivating cyberpunk aesthetic that’s as cool as Reeves is in a long black trench coat. On top of all this, the Wachowskis presented a ground-breaking visual effect dubbed bullet time, which slowed action down but gave a bevy of angles to make every hit land harder. You can keep the thrills going by completing the trilogy: The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions are also available on Max. — K.P.

How to watch: The Matrix is streaming on Max.

3. Birds of Prey

Credit: Warner Bros / Moviestore / Shutterstock

Max has a whole hub dedicated to DC adaptations, meaning you can enjoy everything from Justice League and Constantine to a slew of Batman movies and animated offerings. Subscribers are spoiled for choice. But our pick for the movie most jam-packed with bonkers action is 2020’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). The Suicide Squad sidekick finally gets her solo outing, and director Cathy Yan dreamed up an incredible three-ring circus of action scenes, ranging from bone-snapping bar brawls to glitter-bombed prison breaks, a maniacal musical number, a car chase on roller skates, and a team-up showdown that is explosively awesome. Margot Robbie stars alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, and Ella Jay Basco in an R-rated superhero movie that’s audaciously violent, unapologetically sexy, and as wildly fun as a Harley movie demands. (For bonus thrills, check out the TV-MA cartoon series Harley Quinn.) — K.P.

How to watch: Birds of Prey is streaming on Max.

4. Upgrade

Two years before Saw writer and actor Leigh Whannell made a name for himself as a director with his outstanding and celebrated freshening-up of The Invisible Man, he delivered a little cult actioner that not nearly enough people noticed at the time called Upgrade. A cybernetic spin on RoboCop, Upgrade stars Alien: Covenant‘s Logan Marshall-Green playing an auto mechanic named Grey who, after being paralyzed by a gang of thugs who also kill his wife right in front of him, accepts a hush-hush invite to test drive some future tech in the form of a computer chip implanted in his brain that will fix his motor functions.

Obsessed with catching and punishing his wife’s murderers, Grey makes an easy mark for a computer chip that inevitably begins revealing its sentience. Gifting him with the super-human ability to kick unholy amounts of ass in hand-to-hand combat, it turns out the tech has its own nefarious motives. Disgracefully ignored at the box office, Upgrade is sleek and hyper-violent and pretty much perfect. — Jason Adams, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Upgrade is now streaming on Max.

5. Spy

Credit: Larry D Horricks / 20th Century Fox / Kobal / Shutterstock

Schwarzenegger. Stallone. Van Damme. And, uhh, Melissa McCarthy? Believe it or not, the Bridesmaids actress and Go scene-stealer made the case for herself as a terrific action star, albeit of the comic variety, with Paul Feig’s stellar spy spoof from 2015. A goof on the James Bond movies, Spy is as twisty and thrilling as anything Daniel Craig blue-steeled his way through, just with way more cat sweatshirts — which is to say everybody wins.

As Susan Cooper, a CIA agent on permanent desk duty who gets pulled into the action precisely because she doesn’t look like anyone anybody would think of as a spy, McCarthy revels in her fish-out-of-water fights with an evil Russian arms dealer and his crew, especially his daughter Rayna (a wildly funny Rose Byrne). The jokes stick as hard as the stabbings, and there are enough double and triple and quadruple-crosses to keep everybody guessing in between the rat-a-tat punchlines. And extra bonus points for Feig and co. letting Jason Statham flex his funny bone alongside his biceps. — J.A.

How to watch: Spy is now streaming on Max.

6. From Dusk Till Dawn

Although it’s practically impossible now to not know that this is a vampire movie, when Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn landed in 1996, nobody saw the second-act swerve into full-on horror territory ahead. Instead, this seemed like just another Pulp Fiction riff about wise-cracking criminals getting in over their heads, co-starring Tarantino himself no less. Tarantino, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rodriguez, brilliantly used that misdirection to the movie’s advantage, so it was truly a WTF moment when Salma Hayek’s character morphed mid-strip into a bloodsucker in stilettos.

Watching the movie now, it’s just a bloody good time, with a barnstormer of an ensemble cast that includes Harvey Keitel (playing the straight man!), Juliette Lewis, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Fred Williamson, genre icon Tom Savini, John Hawkes, and of course George Clooney at his Caesar cut-sporting, sleaziest best. Ludicrous fun. — J.A.

How to watch: From Dusk Till Dawn is now streaming on Max.

7. Immortals

Credit: Universal / Kobal / Shutterstock

Shoved aside as yet another rip-off of Zack Snyder’s 2006 blockbuster 300, Tarsem Singh’s Immortals has nevertheless in the 12 years since its release become my preferred destination for visually spectacular and mythologically inclined hyper-stylized action of the homoerotic kind. Starring Henry Cavill as mortal warrior Theseus, Immortals is a remix of myths similar to what Baz Luhrmann would do to musicals with Moulin Rouge.

With stunning costumes from Oscar-winning costume designer Eiko Ishioka lighting up Singh’s typically outrageous visuals, we watch as the deities (including Luke Evans as Zeus) reluctantly team up with the mortals to battle the scheming King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke). It’s one spectacular spectacle sent down from Mount Olympus itself. — J.A.

How to watch: Immortals is now streaming on Max.

8. The Terminator

Who could have thought that a techno slasher starring a monosyllabic bodybuilder from the co-director of Piranha II: The Spawning would go on to become one of the most iconic sci-fi films ever? But that’s just what happened when director James Cameron hallucinated a terrifying robot skeleton during a literal fever dream, setting him off to plot out the relatively simple story of a cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) that travels back in time in order to kill a woman named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) before she can give birth to the leader of the robot resistance.

While the story has grown more convoluted with each progressive sequel and reboot, this first in the series has a clear, horror-movie simplicity that never loses its appeal. Also appealing? Sweaty Michael Biehn as Sarah’s future-sent protector, as well as the gritty, neon-lit Los Angeles it’s all set against. It really doesn’t matter how many times that dastardly robot tells us he’ll be back, the first time remains the sweetest. — J.A.

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

9. Batman Returns

The best Batman movie of them all! Period. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 Miss Kitties. Max has all the other Bat-candidates streaming — Tim Burton’s original, the Nolan trilogy, the Schumacher one-off, plus Matt Reeves’s fresh 2022 take with Robert Pattinson — so feel free to test that assertion, but I stand by it. Where else are you gonna get Michelle Pfeiffer purring in patent leather? A soiled Danny DeVito biting a man’s nose off? A cascade of sexual perversions masquerading as a routine superhero flick, Batman Returns bewildered the unsuspecting public when it came out in 1992. But it was formative for an entire generation of queer kids to be, and we’re still cat-whipping ourselves to completion with umpteenth Christmas-time rewatch. Never forget: Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it, but a kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it, baby. — J.A.

How to watch: Batman Returns is now streaming on Max.

10. Predator

Credit: Moviestore / Shutterstock

This list could be nothing but Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, and we’d all leave satisfied. As is, we’ll make do with two, including John McTiernan’s glorious 1987 hyper-violent jungle thriller Predator here. Introducing one of cinema’s coolest and creepiest villains, a lizardy space hunter who has a thing for tearing out spines and turning invisible, Predator takes a page out of Aliens‘ playbook by introducing us to a ragtag gang of hard-ass soldier-types, each one cooler and harder-assed than the one before him. And then it shows them each getting sliced through like Velveeta cheese by an enemy that’s way outta their league. All until the final girl — in this case, the big, burly, cigar-chomping Dutch (Schwarzenegger) — and the monster finally go toe-to-toe in an explosive finale wherein the word “explosive” can barely contain the amount of charges these filmmakers detonated in the jungle. This is deliciously muscular stuff. Literally! — J.A.

How to watch: Predator is now streaming on Max.

11. Edge of Tomorrow

Groundhog Day on steroids is a good way to describe director Doug Liman’s ass-kicking Edge of Tomorrow, which stars Tom Cruise as a soldier trapped in a time loop while fighting some bad mother aliens from outer space. It turns out that every time the aliens kill him, he wakes back up at the beginning of the day before the big battle, which forces him to use what he learns each time through to get him further and further behind the enemy’s defenses. So yes, it’s explicit video-game plotting, but with the added benefit of watching one of the world’s most obnoxious movie stars die repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Emily Blunt struts off with the whole shebang (but then, she has a tendency to do that) as a much-heralded soldier who, it turns out, has been through the same experience. Her character, Sergeant Major Rita Vrataski, becomes vital to helping William Cage (Cruise) get his bearings — and also for laughing at him. Basically, this is a good movie for Tom Cruise haters, while also simultaneously highlighting all of the things he’s good at: running, leaping, smirking until he gets punched. We all win. — J.A.

How to watch: Edge of Tomorrow is now streaming on Max.

12. Blade

Credit: Bruce Talamon / New Line / Kobal / Shutterstock

Although it’s tough to choose between Stephen Norrington’s 1998 original and Guillermo del Toro’s excellent 2002 sequel, I give the edge to the first film because it’s got two things that del Toro’s lacks – namely, Stephen Dorff chewing the scenery as the villain Deacon Frost (and what a ’90s villain name that is), and that iconic opening scene where it starts raining blood at the vampire rave. (And what a ’90s concept that is!) The good news is that you don’t have to choose; they’re both streaming on Max.

But both films are fortunate enough to have Wesley Snipes in the title role, kicking unholy amounts of vampire ass as the Marvel creation of a half-vampire who hunts his vampire kind, way before “Marvel creations” in the movies were really a thing. Of course, we’re supposed to be getting a new Blade in the MCU eventually, starring Mahershala Ali, and I wish them well. But as dated as they may be in some ways, these two Blades remain as sharp as ever in others. — J.A.

How to watch: Blade is now streaming on Max.

13. Speed Racer

Unfairly maligned upon release, the Wachowskis’ live-action take on the 1960s manga and anime from Tatsuo Yoshida has gained cult status in the 15 years since it flopped in theaters. This kaleidoscopic creation begs to be beheld on the big screen, spinning and whirling and careening as it does with every candy color under the sun. If you’ve got a good set-up at home, you can’t go wrong watching the pop-saturated adventures of Speed (Emile Hirsch), Trixie (Christina Ricci), Pops and Mom (John Goodman and Susan Sarandon), and the whole gang as they rush us through a hallucinogenic wonderland of fast cars, thrilling races, and one adorable pet chimp. As usual with the Wachowskis, this movie was deeply ahead of its time and deserves total rediscovery. At least until I can see it again on a big screen as intended! — J.A.

How to watch: Speed Racer is now streaming on Max.

14. The French Connection

With the recent death of director William Friedkin, it’s the perfect time to revisit the movie that won him the Best Director Oscar in 1972. (Two years later, he got nominated again for The Exorcist… and then inexplicably was never nominated again.) Not just one of the greatest cops-and-robbers films ever made but one of the greatest films ever made, The French Connection stars Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider as two NYPD detectives on the tail of some big-time heroin smugglers. Based on real-life detectives, the film has a gritty vérité quality that captures the essence of 1970s New York, especially in its second half, which is generally considered the greatest chase scene of all time. — J.A.

How to watch: The French Connection is now streaming on Max.

15. Superman

The ultimate comic book movie, bar none. Christopher Reeve will always be Superman to me, no matter how many square-jawed, hyper-muscular Brandon Rouths and Henry Cavills and David Corenswets they toss at the role. And the same goes for Margot Kidder as Lois Lane. So, credit where credit is due — a man named Lynn Stalmaster was the casting director on Richard Donner’s 1978 film, and the dude did his job and then some. Every actor in every role of this movie feels forever iconic.

And that feeling infects every corner. Long before comic book movies were a thing, Donner and his crew cobbled together the blueprint, and every single Marvel and DC movie since has been forced to borrow something from it. Although I tend to think of the first and second Superman films as one story, because a little kneeling-before-Zod is needed too. But Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor makes for a splendid (albeit goofy) villain, and every second of screen time that Reeve & Kidder share is movie magic. May we all find somebody to spin the world backwards for us when the time comes. — J.A.

How to watch: Superman is now streaming on Max.

UPDATE: Oct. 27, 2023, 1:57 p.m. EDT Updated to include the latest Max offerings.

Credit: Max

Max

Tech / Technology

12 of the best romantic comedies streaming on Hulu in 2023

Posted on: October 30, 2023

“Fire Island,” “Palm Springs,” “Brown Sugar,” and “Sleepless in Seattle” are among the best romantic comedies now streaming on Hulu.

There’s nothing like a feature-length chance to fall in love. And there’s no better time to see it than right now.

Whether you’re preparing a cozy evening for two, having a long-distance hang with friends, or embarking on a private, solo cry over love lost/love won/the state of the planet/etc., romantic comedies are one of our greatest resources for emotional catharsis. Roll into the romance and humor of it all with abandon (and our help). Mashable has combed through every rom-com on Hulu to assess the best of the best for your streaming buck.

Here are the 10 best romantic comedies now on Hulu.

1. Palm Springs

Credit: Hulu

In one of the best movies of 2020, Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti play nihilistic wedding guests who become stuck in a time loop à la Groundhog Day. Stupidly funny and surprisingly sweet, this sci-fi nightmare-meets-rom-com explores a been-there-done-that premise with a fresh approach and two leads you’ll fall for instantly. (Fair warning: If you’re in the middle of an existential crisis, maybe hold off on this one. Palm Springs isn’t your average meet-cute.) — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Palm Springs is streaming on Hulu .

2. Brown Sugar

Sanaa Lathan and Taye Diggs in "Brown Sugar."

Credit: K C Bailey / Fox Searchlight / Kobal / Shutterstock

Forget enemies to lovers, can you handle traveling the rocky road from friends to lovers? Rick Famuyiwa’s 2002 rom-com follows a pair of childhood friends on their journey to grown-up lust and commitment. Their story begins on a street corner, where listening to hip hop spurred big career dreams for a boy and girl. Years later, Dre (Taye Diggs) is a successful record exec, while Syd (Sanaa Lathan) is a powerful magazine editor. But despite their natural chemistry, other could-be loves keep getting in the way. Can they get “the best of both worlds…the buddy and the booty?” Interweaving a passion for music with desire for each other, Brown Sugar lays down a sweet and smooth story you can’t help but fall for. Nicole Ari Parker, Boris Kodjoe, and Queen Latifah co-star. — Kristy Puchko, Film Editor

How to watch: Brown Sugar is streaming on Hulu through Starz.

3. Fire Island

A group of friends hang out in the sun on "Fire Island."

Credit: Hulu

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice gets a modern makeover with Fire Island. Joel Kim Booster reimagines the rom-com of manners as a gay love story set in the eponymous vacation spot. There, a chosen family of gay men and their lesbian den mother (Margaret Cho) revel with sunshine, champagne, and karaoke. But an unexpected buzzkill arrives in the form of a pretentious and posh lawyer (Conrad Ricamora), who seems to sneer at the group’s idea of a good time. Despite an awkward introduction, the lawyer and the group’s main character (Booster) kick off a promising romance. But can it be more than a summer fling? — K.P.

How to watch: Fire Island is streaming on Hulu.

4. Sleepless in Seattle

It might get frequently confused with You’ve Got Mail, but Sleepless in Seattle is in solid company in the niche but excellent Tom-Hanks-and-Meg-Ryan-fall-in-love-without-meeting genre. Hanks plays widower Sam, whose son (Ross Malinger) convinces him to talk about his late wife on the radio. This story captivates listeners around the country, including Annie (Ryan), who writes to Sam and asks him to meet her at the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day. As the day ticks closer, life mostly goes on, but chance encounters and missed connections pile up until the fateful meeting.

We know what you’re thinking: Do they go to the Empire State Building? Do they live happily ever after?? Who knows!!* — Proma Khosla, Senior Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Sleepless in Seattle is now streaming on Hulu.

5. Crush

Three teens stand gawking in a high school hallway.

Credit: Hulu

The most refreshing thing about Hulu’s latest queer rom-com is that all the characters are super queer. This isn’t a coming-out story about the one queer girl at her high school or the shy lesbian who’s secretly crushing on the cool, unattainable straight girl — relatable, yes, but we’ve done it. Crush follows a playful (if predictable) love triangle in which very-out Paige (Rowan Blanchard) desperately tries to lock down her longtime crush Gabriella (Isabella Ferreira), the popular girl (guess what, she’s queer!), while drumming up a sweet connection with Gabi’s twin sister (Auli’i Cravalho), an introverted bi skater-girl type. The flirting is a little elementary at times, but the short-and-sweet Crush excels at showing young queer people being themselves and getting a sappy love story to call their own.* — Oliver Whitney, Freelance Contributor

How to watch: Crush is streaming on Hulu.

6. 50 First Dates

50 First Dates is one of those rom-coms you never remember loving quite as much as you do. (See what I did there?) Adam Sandler stars as a laid-back womanizer who falls head over heels for a woman with short-term memory loss, played by Drew Barrymore. This classically funny premise offers a framework for some killer comedic acting by the movie’s entire cast, as well as a surprisingly sensitive reflection on what it means to love unconditionally. Plus, it’s got penguins! And a walrus! —A.F.

How to watch: 50 First Dates is streaming on Hulu.

7. I’m Your Man

Maren Eggert and Dan Stevens in "I'm Your Man."

Credit: Bleecker Street

Want an edge of sci-fi to your romance? Then you’ve got to watch this 2021 gem, which was German’s entry for the Best International Feature Oscar. Maren Eggert stars as a scientist tasked with testing out a robot companion to see how convincingly human it might be. Tom (Dan Stevens) is handsome, attentive, and loves to dance. He’s designed to say the right thing and anticipate every need. The idea is seductive, but this deeply rational (and a bit cynical) woman isn’t so eager to fall for a robo-boy toy whose beating heart is an aim-to-please algorithm. Can real love bloom between (wo)man and machine? And what would that even mean!? Find out with I’m Your Man. — K.P.

How to watch: I’m Your Man is streaming on Hulu.

8. Rye Lane

David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah play on a seesaw in "Rye Lane."

Credit: Searchlight Pictures

Among the most winsome movies of Sundance 2023 is this South London-set romantic comedy. Directed by Raine Allen Miller, Rye Lane stars David Jonsson (Industry) and Vivian Oparah (Class) as heartbroken twenty-somethings who fatefully cross paths and might just tumble into new love. A humbling beginning with a bathroom meet-not-so-cute swiftly spins into a happenstance first date full of fun, banter, surprises, and a wee bit of breaking and entering. (Hey, breakups get messy.)

Painted in saturated colors, paced like a dance party, and brought to life by a kinetic ensemble cast, Rye Lane is a pure pleasure to watch. But it’s Jonsson and Oparah, with their killer comedic timing and off-the-charts chemistry, that make this movie soar.* — K.P.

How to watch: Rye Lane is now streaming on Hulu.

9. Notting Hill

English screenwriter Richard Curtis is the luminary of rom-coms, having contributed to such delights as Love Actually, Bridget Jones’s Diary, About Time, and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Among his most beguiling romances is this tale of boy meets movie star. Hugh Grant headlines as a humble bookshop owner whose simple life is thrown into spin — and the spotlight — when he falls for an ultra-famous American actress (Julia Roberts). Their flirtations are an alluring collision of British charm and American candor. The supporting cast boasts a scene-stealing Rhys Ifans, and the finale will make you cheer and swoon. — K.P

How to watch: Notting Hill is streaming on Hulu.

10. Sliding Doors

If you can handle a dash of drama in your rom-com, you’ll love writer/director Peter Howitt’s 1998 head-spinner. Offering two tales of love for one subway ticket, Sliding Doors follows Londoner Helen Quilley (Gwyneth Paltrow) on a splintered story of what happens to her if she catches her train or misses it. In one scenario, she catches her philandering boyfriend (John Lynch) in bed with another woman (a deliciously devilish Jeanne Tripplehorn). In the other, she arrives too late to expose his infidelity, so their relationship rumbles along while her other persona pursues passion with a charming stranger (John Hannah). Peppered with whimsy, warmth, and some shocking turns, this one will have you gasping, but leave you grinning.* — K.P

How to watch: Sliding Doors is now streaming on Hulu.

11. Happiest Season

Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis star in this sapphic rom-com co-written and directed by Clea DuVall. But rather than it being a charming tale of falling in love, this is a rocking Christmas-set comedy about the drama of meeting the parents. When metropolitan Abby (Stewart) accompanies her girlfriend Harper (Davis) home for the holidays, she not only meets kooky family members, and a smoking hot ex (Aubrey Plaza), but also discovers her lover is closeted. Can this couple have a happy holiday under these conditions? Hijinks, drag queens, and Dan Levy will ensue. —K.P.

How to watch: Happiest Season is now streaming on Hulu.

12. Easy A

Want a raunchy teen comedy that’s surprisingly smart? Then revisit 2010’s winsome rom-com Easy A. Emma Stone stars as Olive, a modern-day Hester Prynne, which in this context means a high school girl who’s trading fictional sexcapades for gift cards. The boys get high fives for their sexual prowess, while — double standards being what they are — Olive get slut-shamed as a pariah. But don’t worry, she’s got a plan.

Will Gluck directs a star-studded cast that includes You‘s Penn Badgley as a lovable crush, Amanda Bynes as a judgmental mean girl, Thomas Haden Church as a confounded mentor, and Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci as Olive’s parents, who are funny, outrageous, and the definition of couple goals. They’ve got a pocketful (pocketful, pocketful) of sunshine, and all you have to do to enjoy is hit play.* — K.P.

How to watch: Easy A is now streaming on Hulu.

UPDATE: Oct. 27, 2023, 11:28 a.m. EDT This post has been updated to reflect the current selection available on Hulu.

Credit: Hulu

Hulu

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Fans and celebrities react to the death of ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry

Posted on: October 29, 2023

Matthew Perry, known for his role as Chandler on TV’s mega hit ‘Friends’, died on Saturday, prompting fans online to reflect on the actor’s comedic and personal legacy.
Matthew Perry smiling at the camera at the 2022 GQ Man of the Year red carpet.

Actor Matthew Perry, a sitcom legend, died on Saturday, Oct. 28, at the age of 54. Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home, the Los Angeles Times reports, and his cause of death is still under investigation.

Known most prominently for his 10-season long run on broadcast television behemoth Friends, Perry is often considered a ’90s icon. He had a decades-long career in television, appearing in shows like ABC’s Mr. Sunshine, and hit a movie stride in the 2000s (he previously said his best role was in the Salma Hayek-led rom-com Fools Rush In). But his most recent headline-making appearances have been more personal, including the 2022 release of his memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.”

Tweet may have been deleted

Many fans directly connected Perry’s death to the loss of his most famous character, Friends‘ dry-witted Chandler Bing, and the cultural (and personal) importance the role has assumed with age — the announcement prompted some fans to place flowers outside of the West Village apartment that acted as the exterior view of the Friends apartment.

“Watching friends for the first time and falling in love with chandler bing is something i will forever hold dearly. one of the best characters on television, and one of the best actors to play it. im beyond distraught. matthew perry was too young. this is heartbreaking,” wrote X user @svlmonskinrolls.

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But others, including fellow actors and performers, remembered the actor for his openness about addiction and recovery, and his later-in-life commitment to helping others in their own journey towards sobriety. Perry opened the now-closed Perry House in 2013, a sober living facility for men based in his own Malibu, California home.

In a 2022 profile with GQ, Perry said he felt compelled to write his book following a decade of attempts at sobriety. “There has to be some reason why I’m still here, having done all of this crazy stuff, and I came to the conclusion it’s to write a book that will help people who are going through the same thing that I am, or did.”

Singer Adele paid tribute to Perry while on stage in Las Vegas. “He was so open with his struggles with addiction and sobriety, which I think is incredibly, incredibly brave. I just wanna say how much I love what he did for all of us,” the star told the crowd.

“Please read his book,” wrote fellow TV actor Paget Brewster. “It was his legacy to help. He won’t rest in peace though.. He’s already too busy making everyone laugh up there.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared his condolences, noting the two’s history as former classmates. “Matthew Perry’s passing is shocking and saddening. I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them. Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed.”

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“The best thing about me, bar none, is that if somebody comes to me and says, ‘I can’t stop drinking, can you help me?’ I can say ‘yes’ and follow up and do it,” said Perry in a 2022 interview with podcaster Tom Power. “When I die, I don’t want Friends to be the first thing that’s mentioned. I want that to be the first thing that’s mentioned. And I’m gonna live the rest of my life proving that.”

Tech / Technology

A look at how one fintech CEO’s PR decision backfired

Posted on: October 29, 2023

Welcome back to The Interchange, where we take a look at the hottest fintech news of the previous week. If you want to receive The Interchange directly in your […]

Tech / Technology

10 underappreciated movies you haven’t seen on Max

Posted on: October 29, 2023

From “Princess Mononoke” to “Shiva Baby,” here are the best hidden gems on Max you need for your next movie night.
A collage of a man in a hat, a cartoon of a woman on a wolf, and a woman looking distressed.

The Max catalogue is deep. Seriously deep. Deep enough to drown in, if humans could drown in movies. Luckily, we can’t. We can only watch them! Ain’t life fun! But before you open up the massive Max library and faint from decision paralysis, take a breath. We’ve got you. And we know what you’re looking for.

You don’t need help picking a big blockbuster for a rewatch — you’re in the mood for a hidden gem. A diamond in the rough. A movie you can recommend to your friends, and they won’t go, “Yeah, Carl, we all know you like Aquaman. Enough already.” These are the under-the-radar winners, the ones with smaller budgets, the foreign hits, or the ones that simply had abysmal marketing campaigns. Each makes for a pleasant surprise and a solid pick on movie night on Max.

1. Princess Mononoke

An illustration of a woman on a white wolf.

One of Miyazaki’s best films.
Credit: Dentsu / NTV / Studio Ghibli / Kobal / Shutterstock

When you think of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, you probably think of Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro. But Miyazaki has been telling visually stunning stories for decades, and since almost all of his works are now streaming on Max, it’s time to dive a little deeper into the Ghibli catalogue. Start with Princess Mononoke, the story of a leader determined to protect her lands from human consumption. Though she may align ideologically with Pocahontas, Princess Mononoke is far more ruthless, stopping at nothing to defend her fantastical home. Caught in the middle of this fight is a young prince, Ashitaka, hoping to help both sides achieve peace before a demon’s curse kills him.

Mononoke has all the markings of a Ghibli classic — wood spirits, gorgeous animation, ruminative landscapes — but boasts a more adult tone than many of Miyazaki’s other pieces. There is blood and war and pain in this whimsical world, and the story is more complex and engaging because of it. For an added treat, the script for the English dub was written by sci fi/fantasy legend Neil Gaiman, so you can watch the English version confident nothing is lost in translation.

How to watch: Princess Mononoke is now streaming on Max.

2. Everything Is Copy

Everything Is Copy is the best kind of love letter: one that’s effusive in its admiration of its subject, but also clear-eyed about her quirks and imperfections. Journalist Jacob Bernstein explores the life, career, and 2012 death of Nora Ephron — known to us as the writer and filmmaker behind such hit rom-coms as Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and Julie & Julia, and to Bernstein as his mother.

Interviews with family members and famous friends (including Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, and Mike Nichols), along with archival interviews and excerpts from Ephron’s own work, paint a portrait of a brilliant and ambitious spirit who lived by the motto stated in the title: “Everything is copy,” meaning everything that happens in life can be fodder for a story later on. Though you wouldn’t mistake Bernstein’s documentary for a work by Ephron herself, the film’s warmth, candor, and humor make it a fitting tribute to the icon she was.* — Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor

How to watch: Everything Is Copy is now streaming on Max.

3. Au revoir les enfants

You’re about to be able to impress film snobs at parties. Au revoir les enfants is a gorgeous and startling film about friendship, and one of the most respected movies in cinema history. Famed French filmmaker Louis Malle wrote, directed, and produced this autobiographical film about his childhood in Nazi-occupied France. The main character Julien, based on Malle himself, is a young student at a boarding school who discovers the headmaster is sheltering three Jewish boys among the student population. Julien forms a bond with one of the boys, Jean Bonnet, and the two navigate an increasingly dangerous world. Au revoir les enfants is a WWII film without any battles. We are confined to the limited landscape of the boarding school and its surrounding town, yet the horrors of war are ever present. It is both subtle and deeply moving, and it will stick with you long after viewing.

How to watch: Au Revoir les Enfants is now streaming on Max.

4. Time Bandits

If you remember Time Bandits, then we are happy for you, for you truly know the meaning of joy. This insane and amazing fantasy, written by Monty Python veterans Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin, is a one-of-a-kind adventure. Eleven-year-old Kevin is asleep in his bedroom when a man on horseback bursts out of his wardrobe and rides off into a forest that disappears behind him. The following night, five small bandits tumble out of the wardrobe and take Kevin on an adventure through history, stopping by the Napoleonic Wars, Ancient Greece, and even the Titanic. John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, and Ian Holm sparkle as their historical counterparts, adding wit and gravitas to the whimsical plot. This is a film that needs to be seen to be believed — but once seen, it will quickly be beloved.

How to watch: Time Bandits is now streaming on Max.

5. Those Who Wish Me Dead

A woman and young boy stand in a dark hallway.

If you’ve ever wanted to watch Angelina Jolie fight fire, this movie’s for you.
Credit: Emerson Miller

It’s a safe bet that you haven’t seen Those Who Wish Me Dead, because almost no one did. A June 2021 debut (a very hesitant time for moviegoers) and a rushed marketing campaign earned this Angelina Jolie-led thriller the honor of being the second-worst opening of all time for a film in more than 3,000 theaters. But don’t let that sway you. This exhilarating, and somewhat insane, movie is a propulsive 100 minutes of action and suspense against the most lethal backdrop of all — the wildfires of the American West. Jolie stars as Hannah, a veteran forest firefighter spending the summer in an isolated, Montana firewatch tower, trying to get her head right after the tragedies of the previous year’s fire season. Suddenly, she finds herself in a very different film, as her path crosses with a child being chased by a pair of assassins (Nicholas Hoult and Aidan Gillen), and she’s the only adult who can protect him. The human elements of the film are comically light in explanation and backstory, but that forces us to focus our fear on the true and ultimate threat here: an unforgiving wall of fire.

How to watch: Those Who Wish Me Dead is now streaming on Max.

6. 61*

This critically acclaimed sports drama (directed by Billy Crystal!) flew under the radar because it was made for HBO in 2001 — a time when TV movies were not as respected as their silver-screen counterparts. However, 61* is just as riveting and affecting as any bigger-budget sports flick, if not more so. This is both the story of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris attempting to break Babe Ruth’s home run record in 1961 and of an unlikely friendship. The charismatic, partying Mantle and the reserved, quiet Maris make for an unusual pair, with each Yankee earning different treatment from the press while the pressure of the season takes its toll. Led adeptly by Thomas Jane and Berry Pepper, 61* is a winning film in any year.

How to watch: 61* is now streaming on Max.

7. The Normal Heart

Directed by Ryan Murphy, The Normal Heart is a searing emotional drama that lacks the signature camp of most Murphy vehicles — and here, that’s a good thing. Adapted by Larry Kramer from his play, Heart follows Mark Ruffalo as Ned Weeks, an openly gay writer in the ’80s who watches the growing HIV/AIDS crisis ravage his community. What sets The Normal Heart apart from other movies on the same topic is its intimacy. We witness the crisis through Ned’s eyes as his friends, neighbors, and lovers are ripped from him. Ned visits hospitals, writes stories, and fights tirelessly with the help of Dr. Emma Brookner (Julia Roberts) to bring more attention and funds to the cause, only to be met with bigotry and silence. A strong and deeply charismatic supporting cast (Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons, Alfred Molina, Joe Mantello, and Jonathan Groff) will make you fall in love with them, before breaking your heart. Do not be intimidated: This is a film that will leave you feeling cleaved in two, but it also imparts a quiet, warm optimism. A rare combination.

How to watch: The Normal Heart is now streaming on Max.

8. Shiva Baby

Worlds collide in this 2020 cringe comedy that’s been widely hailed by critics. When a Jewish college student (Rachel Sennott) dutifully attends a shiva alongside her parents, she’s prepared to field questions about her unimpressive job prospects and lack of a boyfriend. However, she’s not ready for her secret sugar daddy (Danny Deferrari) to show up, much less with his beautiful blonde wife (Dianna Agron) and their rosy-cheeked baby. Making matters even more fraught, her former best friend is slinging her serious side-eye. Something has got to give. In her remarkable debut feature, writer/director Emma Seligman creates laughs and suspense with an electrifying tapestry of observational humor, social awkwardness, jolting humiliation, and sexual tension. You’ve heard of feel-good comedies? Well, this is a feel-anxious-as-hell comedy, dragging us through each embarrassment with our harried heroine. And yet, we can’t recommend the experience highly enough.* — Kristy Puchko, Film Editor

How to watch: Shiva Baby is now streaming on Max.

9. Tampopo

A man and a woman, both wearing white, crack open a seashell.

A treat of a movie
Credit: Apic / Getty Images

A spirited spoof tipping its hat to the Spaghetti Western, this 1985 Japanese comedy was promoted as a “ramen Western.” Its central story is about a cowboy hat-wearing truck driver (Tsutomu Yamazaki), who comes across a humble ramen shop where the food is truly “terrible.” Damsel in distress Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) begs this hardened hero to save her family’s business by teaching her to do right by ramen. So of course, he rounds up a posse to perfect her recipe. Full of physical comedy, giddy silliness, quirky characters, and charming performances, this film is a delectable delight. But writer/director Jûzô Itami brings even more to the table, spicing up this culinary tale with fantastical vignettes about the love of food. Though often ridiculous — and sometimes salacious — none of the laughs are lost in translation. But be warned: This funny film will make you hungry. The loving shots of ramen and the various speeches about its richness and wonders are ruthlessly mouth-watering. Maybe order dinner before digging in.* — K.P.

How to watch: Tampopo is now streaming on Max.

10. Johnny Dangerously

In the 1980s, Micheal Keaton was a mega-star, headlining comedies like Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice as well as Batman. Too often forgotten in this hot streak of ’80s movies was Amy Heckerling’s mafia parody Johnny Dangerously. In this 1930-set comedy, Keaton stars as the eponymous gangster, who has a smoking hot lounge singer for a wife (Marilu Henner), a snarling gun-slinger for a nemesis (Joe Piscopo), and a straight-as-an-arrow district attorney for a brother (Griffin Dunne). Full of slapstick, outrageous jokes, and some punchlines that’d make your granddad blush, Johnny Dangerously is a laugh riot. And stay through the credits for a theme song from Weird Al Yankovic. — K.P.

How to watch: Johnny Dangerously is now streaming on Max.

Credit: Max

Max

* denotes that the writeup comes from a previous Mashable list.

UPDATE: Oct. 25, 2023, 3:20 p.m. EDT This article has been updated to reflect the latest streaming options.

Tech / Technology

The 20 saddest movies on Netflix in 2023

Posted on: October 29, 2023

Here are the 20 saddest movies on Netflix right now. Have your tissues ready for these tearjerkers, from “Stand By Me” to “Marriage Story,” and beyond.

A great movie allows us to slip into different feelings for a bit, kind of like putting on an old, reliable coat. Sometimes, we seek something whimsical and romantic. Other times, we want a thrill that’ll give us goosebumps. Still other days, all we crave is the embrace of the warm and fuzzy. But, occasionally, you just want to slide into the sad — slipping into a tearjerker for the sopping, snot-sleeved comfort they can provide.

A good cry can be good for you. So, when you’re looking to let loose with sobs, we’ve got the perfect selection of movies for your queue.

Grab a box of tissues and check out the 20 saddest movies now streaming on Netflix.

1. Dear John

Nicholas Sparks’s stories are basically the tear-jerking version of the scene in A Clockwork Orange where Malcolm McDowell has his eyes pried open and he’s brainwashed with images of sex and violence — they’re ruthlessly efficient in pressing every button on hand in order to wring from their audience the maximum amount of tears possible.

And this love story, told through the love letters between a soldier (Channing Tatum) and the girl (Amanda Seyfried) he left behind when he went off to war, is relentless. There’s a dying father, a dying husband, a break-up, war injuries, autistic children, Habitat For Humanity, horse stables, 9/11. It pulls out all the stops on its way to Weeps-ville. Thankfully, Tatum and Seyfried are able to convey an easy low-key decency, mitigating the soap-opera plotting with their genuine chemistry and warmth. — Jason Adams, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Dear John is now streaming on Netflix.

2. Stand By Me

Screenwriters Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans took Stephen King’s novella The Body — a coming-of-age tale about four friends who go hunting for a dead teenager while evading the local bullies — and squeezed out every drop of the story’s poignancy and humor. It’s a tear-inducing snapshot of the anxieties, friendships, highs, and lows of childhood. The novella packed a powerful punch of nostalgia, and Rob Reiner’s direction channels this in its own way, placing the boys’ friendships front and center, then considering them through a thoughtful adult lens. “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12,” the grown-up narrator (Richard Dreyfuss) writes at one point. “Jesus, does anyone?”

Keep an eye out for a young Kiefer Sutherland as the brilliantly unpleasant Ace Merrill, Wil Wheaton as budding writer Gordie Lachance, Corey Feldman as the bold Teddy Duchamp, a young Jerry O’Connell as the sweet Vern Tessio, and of course, the exceptional River Phoenix as Gordie’s best friend Chris Chambers. Their performances, like the movie itself, have a well-deserved place in cinematic history.* — Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor

How to watch: Stand By Me is now streaming on Netflix.

3. The Zookeeper’s Wife

If a historical war drama is your go-to avenue for emotional catharsis but you’re tired of seeing the same stories told again and again, Niki Caro’s The Zookeeper’s Wife will be a welcome discovery. The 2017 film tells the true story of Jan Żabiński and Antonina Żabińska, a Polish couple who used their Warsaw zoo to rescue and hide 300 Jews during World War II. Soon after war breaks out in 1939, Jessica Chastain’s Antonina and her husband Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) are forced to cooperate with a Nazi zoologist (Daniel Brühl). Little does he know, the couple has begun sneaking in local Polish Jews to live in the tunnels under the zoo. It’s an emotional story about a lesser-known piece of Holocaust history, and while it drifts into sentimentality at times, both Chastain and Brühl’s performances ground the film in sincerity.* — Oliver Whitney, Contributing Writer

How to watch: The Zookeeper’s Wife is now streaming on Netflix.

4. Living

Remaking an Akira Kurosawa masterpiece is not an endeavor that should be generally encouraged, but director Oliver Hermanus managed to beat those impossible odds with his masterful 2022 re-do of Kurosawa’s 1952 tearjerker Ikiru. Perhaps having a script written by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro is the only way to manage it. Giving the legendary character actor Bill Nighy his career-greatest role certainly didn’t hurt either.

Playing an all-business government worker who gets a death sentence from his doctor and decides to spend his last few months making a difference in the world, Nighy wrings a torrent of emotion out of repression, allowing us to see the sweetness long hidden beneath a hardened man’s shell. If you can make it through his rendition of “The Rowan Tree” without shattering into a million pieces, you’re made of stronger stuff than I. — J.A.

How to watch: Living is now streaming on Netflix.

5. A Monster Calls

Lewis MacDougall as the boy who befriends a tree beast in "A Monster Calls."

Credit: Apaches Entertainment / Kobal / Shutterstock

A Monster Calls is a modern fable about loss, suffering, and childhood. In it, a young boy (Lewis MacDougall) copes with the prospect of losing his mother by befriending a tree monster (voiced by Liam Neeson) that tells him three illuminating stories in exchange for one story from the boy. The movie is based on the fantasy novel by Patrick Ness, who wrote the story based on an idea from Siobhan Dowd, a writer who died of cancer before writing the book herself. — Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: A Monster Calls is now streaming on Netflix.

6. Paddleton

Mark Duplass and Ray Romano share a moment in Paddleton.

Credit: Netflix

Paddleton may be a movie about cancer — the classic tearjerker subject — but it’s also one of the best. That’s partly because it takes an anti-melodramatic approach to a topic cinema loves to exploit for tears. But it’s also because Paddleton is really about friendship and embracing the moments we have together rather than being consumed by the fear of them ending.

Michael (Mark Duplass) and his neighbor Andy (Ray Romano, in a standout dramatic performance) are best friends, and the only people in each other’s lives. That makes it especially difficult for Andy when he learns Michael has decided to end his life through assisted suicide after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. But much like co-writer/director Alex Lehmann’s previous collaboration with Duplass, Blue Jay, Paddleton takes a very naturalistic approach to such dramatic material by focusing on the day-to-day moments of the men’s sweet platonic relationship. The two spend Michael’s final days watching kung fu movies, playing a sport of their own invention, and taking a road trip. It’s hard to think of a recent film that made me openly cry as hard as Paddleton did, and one that truly earned it through genuine storytelling and heartfelt performances.* — O.W.

How to watch: Paddleton is now streaming on Netflix.

7. Marriage Story

Scarlett Johannson and Adam Driver in "Marriage Story."

Credit: Netflix

Writer-director Noah Baumbach’s tense tale of a couple ending their marriage divided audiences, with some viewers reporting they were surprised by whose “side” they ended up on. But critical reception for Marriage Story was almost universal in its praise of the story’s execution and impact. Leads Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver were singled out for their magnetic scene work. This artful depiction of intimacy remains a triumph of romantic storytelling, venturing far beyond the happily-ever-after audiences know so well. — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Marriage Story is now streaming on Netflix.

8. Other People

Molly Shannon and Jesse Plemons star as mother and son in this semi-autobiographical movie from writer/director Chris Kelly about a young gay man who returns to his childhood home to help take care of his dying mother. Other People finds the humor and beauty in the moments that lead up to experiencing loss and features one of Plemons’ best performances. — A.N.

How to watch: Other People is now streaming on Netflix.

9. Pieces of a Woman

Shia LeBeouf as Sean and Vanessa Kirby as Martha in "Pieces of a Woman."

Credit: Netflix

The Crown‘s Vanessa Kirby stars in this heartbreaking movie about a woman whose life is changed forever when her child, delivered at home, dies shortly after birth. Pieces of a Woman explores the emotional complexity of grief, marriage, and blame while telling a devastatingly real story of loss. — A.N.

How to watch: Pieces of a Woman is now streaming on Netflix.

10. The Sky is Pink

The Sky Is Pink is told from the perspective of Aisha “Aishi” Chaudhary (Zaira Wasim), a girl who dies young and narrates the story of her parents’ lives from the afterlife. It’s based on a true story. So yeah, it’s pretty sad. This Hindi language film is one of many Indian gems on Netflix and is a sure tearjerker starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Farhan Akhtar. — A.N.

How to watch: The Sky is Pink is now streaming on Netflix.

11. Call Me By Your Name

Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute

The greatest tearjerkers often only need a single act to realize their full sobbing potential – both Terms of Endearment and Steel Magnolias are basically sweet mother-daughter dramas for three-quarters of their runtime, until sickness barges into their final acts with sudden, heart-stomping brutality. And so it goes with Luca Guadagnino‘s 2018 coming-of-age masterpiece, which is a sexy Italian summer hang-out movie for its majority as we watch 17-year-old Elio (breakout star Timothée Chalamet) and 25-year-old Oliver (Armie Hammer) fall for one another in slow, furtive steps, under the watchful eyes of Elio’s parents (Amira Casar and Michael Stuhlbarg) and those equally watchful peach trees.

And yet, as the last-act train approaches, the film effortlessly channels a palpable feeling of time being lost, of summer vanishing between our fingers, and of romance suddenly, inescapably obliterated, all before we’re anywhere near prepared. The film’s final scenes become an all-out, can-you-top-this symphony of heartbreak — Elio and Oliver say their final goodbye! Elio’s father gives his for-the-ages speech about embracing the moment! All until Elio stares into the fireplace and grabs us by the heart and squeezes every last drop we have left inside of us for good measure. — J.A.

How to watch: Call Me By Your Name is now streaming on Netflix.

12. Boy Erased

A film that’s a little smothered by the very well-meaning intentions of its makers, this 2018 drama about a Baptist preacher’s gay son (Lucas Hedges) who gets sent to conversion therapy by his misguided parents (Joel Edgerton and Nicole Kidman) is very effective at what it sets out to do, which is to speak directly to LGBTQ people’s parents and tell them to get their shit together and stop traumatizing their kids.

And everyone’s excellent here – Hedges and Kidman especially will definitely make you and/or your parents cry profuse buckets. (Edgerton co-wrote and directed the film, as well as co-starring in it.) It’s just that some of us believe the perfect conversion therapy movie already exists in Jamie Babbit’s cotton-candy-colored black comedy But I’m a Cheerleader, since pointing and mocking the hetero-terrorists is the preferred method to take on this subject. But if you want a serious and straight (pun intended) take on the subject, this is your movie. — J.A.

How to watch: Boy Erased is now streaming on Netflix.

13. All the Bright Places

Elle Fanning and Justice Smith in "All the Bright Places."

Credit: Walter Thomson / Netflix

Fans of The Fault in Our Stars will like All the Bright Places, another tearjerker about teens who find love through their personal sufferings. Elle Fanning and Justice Smith deliver heartbreaking performances from a screenplay co-written by Jennifer Niven, who also wrote the novel upon which the movie is based. — A.N.

How to watch: All the Bright Places is now streaming on Netflix.

14. Legends of the Fall

An old-fashioned and epic soap opera starring Brad Pitt at his tip-top peak beauty circa 1994, director Edward Zwick spins the decades-long tale of the three Ludlow brothers (Pitt, Henry Thomas, and Aidan Quinn) and their loves (Julia Ormond, Bert the Bear) with the sort of sweep we’re rarely treated to anymore. At least not with such adult subjects. We watch the first world war and Prohibition take their melodramatic toll on the Montana triad, alongside their father’s (Anthony Hopkins) tyranny and vicious stroke. Children are born, children die, and impossible romances with impossible beauties make us swoon. Oh, and Brad Pitt wrestles a bear, and we really had proper movies, once upon a time. — J.A.

How to watch: Legends of the Fall is now streaming on Netflix.

15. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Chadwick Boseman as Levee, Viola Davis as Ma Rainey, and Colman Domingo as Cutler in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."

Credit: David Lee / Netflix

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is based on the eponymous stage play by August Wilson. In it, Viola Davis portrays real-life blues singer Ma Rainey over the course of one day of recording for her album, during which the personal relationships between her lover, her band, and her producers spill out into a poignant examination of race, betrayal, and ownership. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom also features the late Chadwick Boseman’s final performance, for which he won a posthumous Golden Globe award. — A.N.

How to watch: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is now streaming on Netflix.

16. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Fred Rogers on the set of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood."

Credit: Focus Features

If you’re a person who was a child at any point between the years of 1968 and 2001 (and that adds up to a whole lot of people), then Morgan Neville’s 2018 documentary on the mister named Fred Rogers and the PBS children’s series Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood that he shepherded across those decades will doubtlessly have you in a puddle by the time its closing credits roll.

A portrait of Rogers’s infallible decency and kindness that landed in the thick of the decidedly indecent and unkind Donald Trump presidency, it was hard not to weep for a world where the values Rogers embodied — curiosity and generosity and goodwill toward one’s fellow person — was starting to feel forever lost. Needless to say, those worries remain acute! But Fred Rogers showed us a better way, if we’ll only hop onto that magical trolley and make-believe it can be so again. — J.A.

How to watch: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is now streaming on Netflix.

17. All Quiet on the Western Front

Two soldiers walk together on a desolate field.

Credit: Reiner Bajo/Netflix

Director Edward Berger’s Oscar-nominated 2022 remake of the 1930 Best Picture winner is a tearjerker built for Dads a la Field of Dreams! The first German adaptation of German writer Erich Maria Remarque’s 1928 book, Berger’s film is an unrelenting deluge of World War I’s myriad horrors being thrust upon one simple shell-shocked soldier, Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer) and his regiment, all detailed in claustrophobic vérité. By the end of its two-hour runtime, we feel like we’ve been pummeled into shells ourselves. Bleak and utterly exhausting, it’s about as close to being on those grim battlefields full of young men being blown to bits as most of us will ever get, thankfully. It’s 10 out of 10 hankies for dads everywhere. — J.A.

How to watch: All Quiet on the Western Front is now streaming on Netflix.

18. First Match

A young girl wearing a jersey looks concerned.

Credit: Netflix

Elvire Emanuelle plays Mo, a Brooklyn teen who’s been raised in the foster care system since her father (a never-better Yahya Abdul Mateen of Candyman and Watchmen fame) got sent off to prison. When he gets out, Mo decides to join the boy’s wrestling team in order to prove herself to him, and cue the waterworks. Boasting a stellar cast that also includes Colman Domingo as Mo’s coach and Moonlight‘s Jharrel Jerome as her best friend, the fraught truths that First Match unearths about what are meant to be our closest relationships bypass most of the “inspirational sports story” cliches, instead revealing something far harder to hear. — J.A.

How to watch: First Match is now streaming on Netflix.

19. Roma

Marco Graf as Pepe, Daniela Demesa as Sofi, Yalitza Aparicio as Cleo, Marina De Tavira as Sofia, Diego Cortina Autrey in "Roma."

Credit: Netflix

There is a reason that a great big cry huddle straight out of every Golden Girls episode is the central image on the poster for Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-winning 2018 masterpiece — it’s a movie that demands a great big cry huddle! Telling the story of Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), an indigenous maid to a wealthy family in Mexico City in 1970, Cuarón makes Cleo’s story of survival at the margins seem as enormous as the outer space he sent Sandra Bullock hurtling through in Gravity. — J.A.

How to watch: Roma is now streaming on Netflix.

20. Worth

An older man wearing glasses stands up in a crowded room.

Credit: Netflix

Director Sara Colangelo’s film is a historical drama about lawyers Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros (Michael Keaton and Amy Ryan), who were charged with running the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. It was their unimaginable job to calculate how much money would be given to the people who lost loved ones during 9/11, and how to determine who would get anything at all. And if that concept in itself doesn’t already have you tearing up, just you wait. Worth, which is based on Kenneth Feinberg’s non-fiction book What Is Life Worth?: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Fund and Its Effort to Compensate the Victims of September 11th, is perhaps so far the only fictional movie about that horrible day and its aftermath that has truly worked. It does so by giving voice to the victims and their stories, and the struggle to realize what our lives truly amount to in the end. — J.A.

How to watch: Worth is now streaming on Netflix.

Credit: Netflix

Netflix

Asterisks (*) indicate the entry comes from a previous Mashable list.

UPDATE: Aug. 23, 2023, 5:00 a.m. EDT Originally published on April 2, 2021, this article has been revised to reflect the current selections now streaming.