Look, up until the end of episode six (if you know, you know), Sugar was a perfectly serviceable noir TV with a better-than-average cast led by Colin Farrell playing the titular John Sugar, a PI in Los Angeles with a heart of gold. The mystery was compelling; Farrell is always a highlight in anything, and if Amy Ryan (who had a supporting role) has no more fans left on this spinning rock, well, then I must be dead.

The post Apple TV’s Unhinged, Best Show You Haven’t Seen Needs a Season 2 or It Will Ruin My Life appeared first on The Mary Sue.

However, since this weekend, we’ve been hearing a lot of people—from random social media users to reports of Democratic Party officials—fretting that the events of this weekend all but guarantee Trump will win the election in a landslide. And I would like to remind those people that in actuality, this changes nothing.

The post A Case Against Freaking Out About the Presidential Election appeared first on The Mary Sue.

What set Simmons apart was his pure enthusiasm and belief that anyone could find freedom through movement of their body. I know this because I used to “Sweat to the Oldies” with my mom and whatever VHS of Simmon’s workout she had gotten from Costco recently. As a child of the ’80s, I was, and still am, well-versed in the fitness videos my parent’s generation consumed. Simmons’ was different. It wasn’t about enduring 30 minutes, so you could force your body into a shape; it’s not. Simmons’ message was that this should be fun—everything should be fun. And it was! That man had an infectious joy, and it came across so well in everything he made for us.

The post Richard Simmons Was Pure Joy appeared first on The Mary Sue.

The soap opera aired on NBC from 1999 until 2008 and just turned 25 years old. Yes, friends, it’s hard to believe that Passions premiered on July 5, 1999, a debut I remember well because it came mired in controversy. See, in the first episode, the newly-dead Princess Diana was portrayed to be besties with fictional Sheridan Crane. At one point, Sheridan laments to no one in particular: “Oh Diana! Why did you have to die?” Some people didn’t love that, for obvious reasons, but to me, it was Passions metaphorically telling us to hold their beer, while they set across an obstacle course of flaming closets to hell, dolls turned to life, and of course, orangutan-human love triangles.

The post Happy 25 Years to the Most Unhinged Soap Opera of All Time appeared first on The Mary Sue.

First, why is Liv Tyler’s dad, Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, always played over her love scenes with Ben Affleck? Isn’t that, you know, a bit weird?

The post Was Ben Affleck Right About ‘Armageddon’? appeared first on The Mary Sue.

However, in the 28 years since it’s been released (yes, I know, I feel old too when I typed that out, too) one thing has eluded this movie’s legacy, until now: By far the best scene in the film has gone unnoticed, and uncelebrated. That ends today.

The post The Best Scene in ‘Independence Day’ Isn’t What You Think appeared first on The Mary Sue.

It’s a nostalgic walk down memory lane, and if you’re a kid of the ’80s (or ’90s who had basic cable and/or a VCR), it’s a high school reunion of the cool upperclassmen you never got to hang out with, but worshipped just the same. Watching Brats also means revisiting the classic movies that made The Brat Pack The Brat Pack, including the second-best Brat Pack movie of all time: Pretty in Pink. (Sixteen Candles being the obvious first. Go cry about it, The Breakfast Club.)

The post ‘Brats’ Reaffirms That Changing ‘Pretty in Pink’s Ending Was the Right Call appeared first on The Mary Sue.

I’m just going to go for the jugular first: I think it’s extremely telling the movies Hughes wrote from the female perspective, typically rank lower on his “best of” lists than the ones that are predominantly male. I am of course talking about my beloved Sixteen Candles, as well as Pretty in Pink. Now, look, I love Planes, Trains, and Automobiles as much as the next person, but the strongest role for a woman in that movie is the doting, waiting, patient wife. Sixteen Candles is out there, and loud, about female wish fulfillment, the female gaze, and general celebration (and humiliation) of what it means to be a teenage girl in 1980s America.

The post Forget ‘The Breakfast Club,’ ‘Sixteen Candles’ Is John Hughes’ Best Movie appeared first on The Mary Sue.

That’s right, we’re here today to discuss the perplexing anti-sex cardboard beds Olympic athletes are forced to sleep on in the Olympic Village. In case you were unaware of this blight on the human condition, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 because thanks, COVID) decided to be the least horny Olympics ever by making every athlete in the Olympic Village sleep on narrow mattresses supported by lightweight cardboard, which will collapse under the weight of two people.

The post Let the Olympics Be Horny! appeared first on The Mary Sue.

…Or is it?

The post Will ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Return for Season 12? appeared first on The Mary Sue.

At the film’s 40th anniversary, I feel the need to talk about Jake Ryan, my favorite problematic movie boyfriend. If you’re waiting for me to try to make excuses why some elements of Sixteen Candles really, really don’t hold up, I simply cannot, and we shouldn’t want to. In fact, a few years ago, the movie’s star Molly Ringwald, did a thoughtful public examination of the movie’s misogyny and other problematic issues.

The post ‘Sixteen Candles’ Heartthrob Jake Ryan Is Objectively Terrible … So Why Is He Still My Favorite Problematic Movie Boyfriend? appeared first on The Mary Sue.

I’ll admit, TTPD is a little choppy for me, and while some of that can be attributed to production and how increasingly over synth-pop I am, some of that is definitely because I wasn’t expecting her to come across so pissed off—seemingly over her past relationship with Matty Healy.

The post Taylor Swift Told Us Years Ago What the Reaction to ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Would Be appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Friends, let me introduce to you the FART team. Guess what? We’re both going to waste some brain cells while I explain what FART’s main objectives are, but spoiler alert: It’s to hang around the halls of Congress like an odious, lingering gas exhalation.

The post I Have Three Questions for the FART Republican Caucus appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Taylor Swift is my favorite sports team. With that in mind, we could be here all day while I explain to you the full context of why Swift just released a diss track against Kardashian, a.k.a. “In this essay I will…” Except that would invariably annoy you because we would get deep in the weeds. So let’s keep it top-level, but something you need to understand about Swift, which is a huge reason why I love her music, is that she is extremely protective of and tender with her feelings via her songs.

The post What’s With Taylor Swift Coming for Kim Kardashian, and Should You Care? appeared first on The Mary Sue.

This begins with, who else, Taylor Swift. Her most recent album The Tortured Poets Department, is a choice, mainly because it’s about Matty Healy, and that guy is the worst. However, the album’s titular song contains the line “we declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist” and, naturally, people have some thoughts about that. (Personally, I think they’re focusing on the wrong line because immediately after the Puth line, she describes scratching Healy’s head like he’s a dog with tattoos and I find that objectively absurd in the best way.)

The post With a Single Line on ‘Tortured Poets Department,’ Taylor Swift Has Brought All of Charlie Puth’s Past Controversies Back to the Spotlight appeared first on The Mary Sue.

It just goes to show you can never know the person from the artist because here we are—an entire, emotionally raw album seemingly about Matty f-ing Healy, frontman for The 1975. I cannot.

The post Taylor Swift Wrote an Entire Album About Matty Healy? Him?! appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Like all corporations in a post-capitalistic hellscape, Swift Co. is engaging in some gross things, and they should be addressed. A little bit of history, if you’re not deep into Swiftie culture like I (unapologetically) am: In 2018, Swift signed with Universal Music Group, and her business has gone downhill since, despite her professional success.

The post Why Taylor Swift (The Business) Gives Me the Ick appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Here’s the thing—Courtney Love is Hole. Yes, there are other, extremely talented people in the band, but Courtney was the public face of Hole, and wrote or co-wrote all their original songs (hold that thought). However, Love has always had a, well, shall we say, complicated public image. Primarily because she’s never acted like she cared what people thought about her. She sought attention, embraced her rage, and generally ran amok for a very long time. Her behavior was in part due to her addiction issues at the time, but also Courtney Love has made it clear from the jump she simply never gave a f*ck what anyone thought and that she was going to be herself.

The post ‘Live Through This’ Is 30 and I’m Still Mad About That Kurt Cobain Rumor appeared first on The Mary Sue.

***SPOILER ALERT: This post spoils DotD, which came out 20 years ago. So if you haven’t watched it by now, seriously, what are you doing?***

The post 20 Years Later and I’m Still Bummed Out About the Secret ‘Dawn of the Dead’ Ending appeared first on The Mary Sue.

It’s not just in that guy in the Wilco shirt’s head, either. It’s true, and it’s down to the usual suspects who are ruining a lot in our daily lives: private equity (booooooo) and AI. That’s right, MBA boneheads who unironically say terms like “ROI” and “cost per acquisition” have systematically been strip-mining the music industry for years. As a result, there’s less room for up and coming talent.

The post The State of the Music Industry Is So Grim, Even Taylor Swift (Probably) Can’t Save It appeared first on The Mary Sue.