Entertainment
2000s Fantasy Rom-Com Makes You Hear Voices And Question Reality Streaming For Free
By Robert Scucci
| Published
For a while, Will Ferrell seemed like a one-trick pony after his legendary run on SNL because he succumbed to being typecast as the resident sillyman thanks to his bombastic and over-the-top delivery as an often clueless man with a disproportionate amount of confidence. Conversely, Ferrell has proven his ability to take on dramatic roles as seen in 2010’s Everything Must Go and 2020’s Downhill, demonstrating that he knows how to play it straight when the opportunity presents itself. Perfectly bridging the gap between both on-screen personas, Ferrell surprised me the most with 2006’s Stranger than Fiction, the romantic comedy drama about an IRS agent who falls in love with a baker who doesn’t pay her taxes because she hates the government.
Knowing just when to keep a straight face, and when to lightly lean into his usual shtick when the moment’s right, Ferrel’s performance in Stranger than Fiction is a testament to fact that he knows exactly how to read the room and dial in whatever kind of delivery he needs to get the job done and properly service a dramatic screenplay that’s not without a sense of humor.
Little Did He Know…
Stranger Than Fiction sees Will Ferrell’s Harold Crick living a monotonous life as a dutiful IRS agent, and it’s quickly made apparent that he can crunch numbers in his head at an intimidating level, making him an excellent auditor and model employee. Despite his high-level talents at a clerical level, Harold lacks social tact, as he’s spent his entire adult life embodying an “all work, no play” mentality. Everything changes for Harold when he starts to hear the voice of a British woman narrating his life in great detail, and with a better vocabulary than he possesses himself.
When Harold is tasked with auditing Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Ana Pascal, his social awkwardness is in full-force because he’s immediately attracted to the tax-dodging baker, and can’t help but sneak glances at her figure when he pays her a visit. Naturally, this “ogling” rubs her the wrong way and establishes the adversarial dynamic between Harold and Ana.
Meanwhile, Harold has a meltdown when he resets his wristwatch and the narrator says, “Little did he know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act would result in his imminent death,” leading him to believe that he’s on the verge of a psychotic break.
Consulting An Expert
After Harold refuses to believe Dr. Mittag-Leffler’s (Linda Hunt) assessment that he’s in a psychotic state, he seeks out Dustin Hoffman’s Professor Jules Hilbert, an eccentric literary expert who eats books for breakfast. While Professor Hilbert at first also has very good reason to believe that Harold has a screw loose in Stranger than Fiction, he has a change of heart when Harold recites the “little did he know” passage. By chance, the TV playing in Professor Hilbert’s office is broadcasting an old interview with Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), the famed yet reclusive author who’s known for killing off the protagonists in her books.
Harold is certain that he’s hearing Karen’s voice in his head, which doesn’t bode well for Professor Hilbert because that means he may actually be a character in her upcoming and highly-anticipated novel, and things won’t end well for him.
Knowing that death is waiting for him as soon as Karen finishes her book in Stranger than Fiction, Harold decides that he has nothing to lose, and pursues Ana with romantic intent, with mixed results. While for the first time pursuing his desire to be something more than just an IRS auditor before he meets his grisly, yet-to-be-written fate, Harold and Professor Hilbert work together to track down Karen, who they both assume hasn’t finished her latest book because she’s suffering from an intense bout of writer’s block.
Comedy Drama Perfection
Stranger than Fiction sees Will Ferrell’s Harold Crick coming to terms with his own mortality as he tries to figure out whether his life is a comedy or tragedy, and his naive yet well-intentioned advances toward Ana make for some awkward moments that lead to comedy gold when the two finally begin to hit it off. The one sequence that sold me on Ferrell’s ability to make you laugh during awkward moments is when he hand delivers colorful bags of baking flour to Ana, which was his way of “giving her flowers” to make amends and profess his love to her despite the fact that he’s currently auditing her and turning her life upside down.
Knowing that he probably doesn’t have a lot of time left, Harold bumbles through his budding romance with Ana knowing that he wants to feel true love before he potentially expires, and his social awkwardness juxtaposed with her hard-headed combativeness makes for a romantic dynamic that becomes all the more urgent when Karen starts working with a literary assistant so she can finally finish the book that will ultimately kill him off before he has a chance to actually live his life.
Stranger than Fiction sees Will Ferrell expertly tread the line between serious and funny, and proves that he has acting chops that he doesn’t always necessarily channel unless he has a compelling reason to do so. Fortunately, he found a compelling reason in Stranger than Fiction’s screenplay, and you can find out what happens to Harold by streaming the title for free on Tubi.
Entertainment
Xiaomis new hyper car concept has the strangest cockpit weve ever seen
Xiaomi likes to bring cars to Barcelona; the company gave us the first glimpse of its SU7 Ultra supercar during last year’s MWC in March.
This year, however, Xiaomi has unveiled something that’s pretty far out there, even by its own standards. Called the Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo, it’s a hypercar that was designed to go really fast while slicing through the air in a way not many cars (or race cars, for that matter) can (Xiaomi says it’s been “sculpted by the wind”).
It feels kinda empty in there.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
The company will bring the concept car to its MWC show floor in Barcelona on March 2, presumably when we’ll learn more about its powertrain, acceleration, battery, and other trivialities. Today, however, Xiaomi was mostly focused on how the air flows through the car, using a variety of wind tunnels and channels (and even a moving part on the car’s bottom) to make it more efficient.
The wheels and wheel covers are special, too.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Even the car’s wheels have special covers that are (somehow) magnetically set in place so they don’t rotate while the car moves, as that would also increase drag.
Mashable Light Speed
I bet your car doesn’t have a cocoon-shaped sofa.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Inside, it gets even nuttier. The seats are out; instead, you sit in a “cocoon-shaped sofa” with an x-wing steering wheel with five tiny displays, some of which apparently double as (contextual?) buttons. Most of the things you associate with a traditional car are gone; instead, it’s you in that sofa-shaped cockpit, that steering wheel, and the road. The car’s a two-seater, so don’t expect to bring your family on a trip in this one.
Fortunately, you might be able to get a cocoon-shaped sofa/cockpit for your home.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
In fact, most people probably won’t be able to afford a car like this, but Xiaomi’s got you covered, as it plans to release a gaming console/cockpit shaped just like the car’s cockpit, so you can race around in your own little cocoon in the relative safety of your home.
We don’t know how fast it goes. We don’t know where the batteries are, given that the car appears to be mostly wind tunnels under that cockpit. We don’t know if it’s ever going to make it to market. But boy, does it all look cool.
We’ll hopefully find out more on March 2 when that show floor opens, so stay tuned for pics and videos.
Topics
Mobile World Congress
Xiaomi
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for March 1, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you’re a frequent flyer.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
Mashable Top Stories
Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #994 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Little bite: CANAPÉ, FINGER FOOD, HORS D’OEUVRE, TAPA
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Construction equipment: HARD HAT, LADDER, NAIL GUN, TOOL BELT
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Vacation emoji: AIRPLANE, LUGGAGE, PALM TREE, SMILING FACE WITH SUNGLASSES
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Things you don’t eat that end in foods: COPYPASTA, JOHANNESBURGER, KNUCKLE SANDWICH, LICORICE PIZZA
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for March 1, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re not on. your best behavior.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Dressing down
The words are related to discipline.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe ways to chastise.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is The Riot Act.
NYT Strands word list for March 1
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Braidup
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The Riot Act
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Scold
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Castigate
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Reprimand
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Admonish
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
Xiaomis new hyper car concept has the strangest cockpit weve ever seen
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