Entertainment
Raunchy R-Rated Comedy With Marvel Star On Netflix Makes Adults Grow Up
By Robert Scucci
| Published
One of the most off-putting aspects of Judd Apatow’s This is 40 is how he decided to cast Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann, two people who are seemingly incapable of showing any signs of aging. Aside from that, this “sort-of sequel” to Knocked Up has legs, and is one of the better raunchy rom-coms from the 2010s because of its believable family dynamic. Well, by “believable,” I mean that as somebody who’s married and on the wrong side of 30, I’ve experienced similar squabbles with my better half about how hectic life is, and how sometimes I have to make executive decisions with the kids when she’s not around that may not be so well-received.
However, This is 40 makes me wonder who two partners, both with failing businesses, are able to afford such a lavish lifestyle that includes a massive suburban house, personal trainers, and the ability to go on expensive romantic getaways (in the BMW that they own) when they can allegedly barely afford to pay the mortgage.
But if I’m willing to suspend disbelief while watching movies like The Rock, then I guess I could be a little forgiving because This is 40 is full of snappy dialogue and some too-close-to-home exchanges that are mostly believable.
A Family In Distress
This is 40 starts out with a bang, literally, as Paul Rudd’s Pete gets an earful after revealing to his wife, Debbie (Leslie Mann) that he took a Viagra before engaging in a steamy shower session. This opening scene establishes the relationship dynamic between Pete and Debbie perfectly because it illuminates just how terrible they are at communicating with each other.
Pete, who’s clearly attracted to his wife, simply thought that popping the special little blue pill would add some excitement to their sex life as they both approach their 40th birthdays in the aptly titled This is 40. Debbie, on the other hand, feels insecure over the fact that Pete needs pharmaceutical assistance to get the job done because the subtext she’s picking up on is that she’s becoming less attractive as she gets older.
While both Pete and Debbie are trying their best to manage their household, and raise their two daughters, 13-year-old Sadie (Maude Apatow) and 8-year-old Charlotte (Iris Apatow), they constantly get in their own way because they’re both headstrong and neurotic in their own very unique ways – Debbie is a control freak who tries to be friends with her children while also ruling the house with an iron fist, while Pete approaches parenting in a more relaxed way while constantly dunking on everybody’s taste in music and sneaking cupcakes from the outside garbage bin despite his high cholesterol.
Financial Stress Will Ruin Anybody’s Day
At the center of This is 40, outside of the household dynamic, Pete is struggling to make his failing record label turn a profit. Pete, who’s out of touch with what’s hip, thinks that a Graham Parker & the Rumour reunion will get his company out of the red, but struggles to sell 1,000 downloadable copies of their new album. To make matters worse, Pete has been financially supporting his father, Larry (Albert Brooks), who somehow has young triplets.
Debbie’s fashion boutique in This is 40 is not without issues either, as one of her employees has been skimming funds from the bank roll to the tune of $12,000. While both Paul and Debbie are trying to fight these battles independently, their marriage gets put on the rocks when Debbie visits the family accountant and finds out how dire their situation actually is.
Can’t Blame Them For Trying
Though the above mentioned issues are enough to make any sane person want to drive their bicycle off a cliff, This is 40 shines because of just how accurately its principal characters cope with their sources of stress. Not only are Pete and Debbie trying to keep their marriage afloat even though they’re hardly ever in each other’s corner on the home front, they form an unbreakable alliance whenever they need to step up and actually be good parents to their children. Even when you think that This is 40 is going to end in divorce, and there’s no reason to believe otherwise, Pete and Debbie are a force of nature when they find out Sadie is being bullied at school by a kid that looks like a factory-second Tom Petty.
What’s more, there’s one shining moment in This is 40 when Pete and Debbie are able to sneak away from home for a romantic getaway, and they have a wholesome laugh while discussing how they’d kill each other if ever pushed to the point of no return, which is a conversation that most married friends my age – especially the ones who are into true crime – have had with each other at some point in time for the fun of it.
Better Than Critics Would Lead You To Believe
Surprisingly, This is 40 only boasts a 52 percent critical score against a 50 percent Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes, with its most common criticism being about its 133-minute runtime. While I’m typically a fan of a tight, 90-minute movie, I didn’t personally think This is 40 dragged on at all, because it’s a slice-of-life kind of film. Marriage, and raising a family is the most exciting, terrifying, and rewarding thing anybody could do, but there are also meandering moments that are so mind-numbingly boring that you occasionally need to sneak into the bathroom to play Candy Crush in order to feel alive.
While you may not appreciate how This is 40 captures the mundane moments, these small, unassuming exchanges add value to the movie because it makes everything seem real.
As of this writing, you can stream This is 40 on Netflix.
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.
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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.
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