Entertainment
Scarlett Johansson's Raunchy R-Rated Comedy Has Been Unfairly Forgotten
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Remember that plot point in Jurassic Park about extracting dinosaur blood from ancient mosquitoes that were trapped in amber millions of years ago? Certain films are like that, and revisiting them is like stepping into memories from a lifetime ago. When you revisit these movies, you get more than the usual reassuring wave of nostalgia. You get to touch the still-warm blood of who you were when you first watched the film and (at least, until the credits roll) bring a version of your past self, happy and carefree, into the roaring chaos of the present day.
For me, the ultimate example of this phenomenon is Ghost World (2001). It’s a movie I fell in love with when I was a lot like its characters: too smart and too smart-mouthed for my own good, hoping that enough wit and sarcasm could hide the fact that I was terrified about figuring out what to do with my life. It’s somewhat bittersweet to return to the film with the sobering knowledge that growing up is a lie. You never figure out exactly what you’re supposed to do or who you’re supposed to be. But for anyone who wants to escape into the past with the smartest, sexiest film you’ve never seen, Ghost World is now streaming for free on Tubi.
Sick, Grad World
The premise of Ghost World is that two young girls (played by Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson) have just completed high school and don’t know what to do with the rest of their lives. Young Enid must complete a remedial art class, but she and her toxic bestie still find the time to prank a sad man (played by Steve Buscemi) who posts a personal ad trying to reach a woman he recently met. This kicks off a very unconventional friendship between Enid and a man two and a half times her age, but her carefree drama eventually threatens to destroy both their lives.
Ghost World is a brilliant adaptation of the Daniel Clowes comic of the same name. As such, the movie lends itself to a very breezy, episodic structure. While Enid’s strange friendship with sad sack Seymour is the narrative anchor, the movie finds plenty of time to showcase her bizarre, slice-of-life adventures with Rebecca. Sometimes, this includes watching a shirtless dude practicing his nunchuck skills and shocking people with the Batgirl helmet she snagged from the local sex shop. Other times, it includes shocking people with hilariously vulgar language. Much of this dialogue would get you instantly canceled today, but for Gen X and Millennial audiences, that’s just part of this film’s quirky, throwback charm.
How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?
While Ghost World is impeccably written, it’s the pitch-perfect cast that really brings each insane character to life. There are some sublime choices for the supporting cast, including charismatic character actor Patrick Fischler as a video store clerk and comedy legend David Cross as a pushy vinyl enthusiast. Illeana Douglas, meanwhile, does an impeccable job of playing the kind of teacher you love to hate. Finally, the late, great Brad Renfro is the perfect audience surrogate as the friend and put-upon convenience store worker bouncing uncomfortably between the chaos of his two messiest friends.
Speaking of which, the messy relationship at the heart of Ghost World is believable largely because of the chemistry between Thora Birch and Scarlett Johannsenn. A teenage ScarJo is compelling as a young woman trying to build her future with a friend still rooted firmly in the past. As our hilarious lead, Thora Birch quickly establishes that American Beauty was no fluke and that she’s one of the most talented actresses in Hollywood. Surrounded by such a quirky young cast, Buscemi dials down some of his usual weirdness, allowing him to perfectly embody the beleaguered everyman who gets caught up in the hypnotically weird, eternally unpredictable miasma of teenage melodrama.
Teenage Wasteland
Part of why Ghost World works so well is that it’s the anti-coming-of-age story. The film is tempestuous in its own moods, careening from restless hyperfixations on trivial matters to existential ennui at the drop of the hat. In that way, it mirrors the plight of its young protagonists who now realize they must answer a question they’ve been hearing for years: what do you want to do with the rest of your life? Like all teens, though, they can’t plan for tomorrow because they don’t know who they are today, giving the film an electric tension that crackles through even the simplest scenes.
If you’re still having trouble understanding what Ghost World is about, don’t worry: that’s a feature, not a bug. Director Terry Zwigoff (who would later bring us the relentlessly raunchy Bad Santa) has captured the vibe of the Daniel Clowes comic well enough that this film has multitudes. You can enjoy it as a time capsule of your own lost youth, the perfect balm to the aches (and not just the ones in your back) of getting older. But you can also enjoy it as a poignant meditation on the intersection of sex, youth, and identity. Alternatively, you can simply enjoy it for scene after scene of the darkest, weirdest comedy ever put on film.
Care to set foot into a simpler world of existentialist Millennial whimsy? Relive the unique dread of planning your entire life when you can’t even plan your weekend? Maybe you just want to lose your sh*t at one Thora Birch stinger after another. For all these reasons and more, now is the perfect time to watch Ghost World on Tubi. You can stream this coming-of-anxiety film for free on Tubi. The money you save may one day fuel your real passion: becoming the kind of vinylhead so weird that local teenagers treat you like a zoo attraction just waiting to be put down.
Entertainment
Free hookup app accounts: Comparing AdultFriendFinder, Tinder, Grindr, and more
We all get the urge to find a fun fling at one time or another, but not everyone wants to dish out money to make it happen. If you’re strapped for cash or you just want to keep that credit card firmly in your wallet, know that there are a lot of great free hookup apps and sites that offer results without you having to pay a premium for membership.
That said, not all free dating services work in the same way, and they don’t always offer the same level of freedom. They’re still businesses, after all, and still looking to turn a profit. They will entice you will free fun while hiding some of their very best features behind a subscription — which they hope will tempt you to go further and sign up for that paid membership.
To help you navigate the world of hookup apps and sites as a non-paying user, here’s a handy guide on the top dating services — and all the best features you can get for free.
Hookup apps for everyone
AdultFriendFinder
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readers’ pick for casual connections
Tinder
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top pick for finding hookups
Hinge
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popular choice for regular meetups
Tinder’s mega-popularity probably has a lot to do with how well it has balanced its free and premium features. As a non-paying user, you can create an account, fill your profile with up to nine photos and videos, and then swipe to match and chat with singles in your area.
In other words, you can use Tinder’s basic features without opening your wallet. But restricting yourself to a free account is exactly that — restricting. This includes an ad-laden UI and a limited number of swipes over 12 hours. OK, so it doesn’t sound too bad on paper — until you spend an hour left-swiping and finally find the profile of your dreams, a person seemingly created to pique your interest, only to realise that you’ve run out of likes.
To get the most out of a free Tinder account, we recommend splitting up your swiping time into morning and evening sessions, to minimize the impact of their 12-hour right-swipe restriction. If you score a decent match by using this strategy, you’re all set and probably won’t need to upgrade your account. But if you’re dissatisfied with how many matches you find, it could well be time to explore Tinder’s Gold and Platinum tiers, as these unlock some matchmaking cheat codes, including one monthly profile boost to increase your visibility, plus the ability to see who has liked your profile and message accounts you haven’t already matched with.
AdultFriendFinder is one of the most restrictive dating services for free members. Not only will you not be able to speak to another person one-on-one with a free account, you won’t even be able to view other users’ profiles without stumping up some cash for monthly paid membership.
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Don’t be put off, though. If you’re looking for fast thrills online, a free AFF account still has its upside. For one thing, AdultFriendFinder is less a dating service than an entire sexy ecosystem, complete with live webcam shows, chat boards, adult-themed picture contests, and a whole lot of erotic storytelling. You can access and even take part for free, so whether you want to passively observe the live webcam feeds or test your writing skills out in the streamy fiction section, you have good options.
On the other hand, if you want to use AFF to actually find a potential partner in your local area, you really need to upgrade to their paid subscription, which not only unlocks expanded search features and the ability to communicate one-on-one with other members, but also upgrades the quality of the photos and videos you see, which is worth the expenditure alone.
Like Tinder, Grindr is very generous to non-paying users. With a free account, you can create a profile, search out and chat with other nearby people, and even create a private photo album and send a single photo. In one sense, Grindr is even more generous to its free users than Tinder: It allows you to match with one person outside of your immediate location per day, which gives you a little taste of the app’s reach and capabilities.
Best of all, for those desperately eager to connect, Grindr allows free users two Right Now sessions per week, which functions as a kind of temporary (one hour, max) status update to nearby users also in Right Now mode. Don’t forget, Grindr is all about the fast hookup.
It’s not all upside, though. Like Tinder, Grindr subsidizes its free user features by serving up relentless ads, which definitely impacts the user experience, while also limiting their profile’s reach to “local” Grindr users, which basically means accounts within your immediate vicinity. If you’re in LA or Manhattan that’s not necessarily a problem, but if you’re using the app in a small town or remote area — which likely means a smaller queer population — it can mean fewer hookups.
If that’s a problem for you, you can opt for either the Grindr XTRA or Grindr Unlimited subscriptions to unlock quality-of-life features. These include the ability to send more expiring photos, a larger grid to explore, and even the ability to see who has viewed and liked your profile.
In many ways, Pure is the most intriguing hookup app out there. It’s a true innovator of design and interface, which makes it no surprise that it’s the most popular app for Gen Z singles. Unfortunately, it’s extremely restrictive in the scope it gives to free users. Unless you’re a woman, that is.
On Pure, male and non-binary users have to pay to unlock the app’s most useful features, while women get unrestricted access to the app for free. Before you cry foul, though, remember that most dating apps skew heavily male (Tinder users may be 75 percent male, for example), so by enticing women with a free membership, Pure can keep a relatively even gender split among its users. That’s a good thing, right?
As a free user, you’ll be able to create a profile and fill out all the necessary information, as well as a list of your kinks. But you can’t respond or chat one-on-one with other users, which so you’re essentially locked out of the app’s most fun and interactive features.
Unlike with Tinder, Grindr or AFF, Pure really does require a paid subscription to be at all useful — if you’re not a woman, that is.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 31, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you love bright colors.
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:
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Yellow: Bright-colored
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Green: Playing pool
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Blue: Popeye
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Purple: Timber
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 #1085 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Things that are yellow: BUTTER, PIKACHU, RUBBER DUCK, SCHOOL BUS
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Billiard terms: BREAK, CUE, POCKET, RACK
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Slang for a sailor: JACK, SALT, SEA DOG, TAR
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Kinds of wood plus “S”: SASH, SOAK, SPINE, STEAK
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 May 31, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re a traveler.
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: Places to go
The words are related to travel.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe travel sites.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is Tourism.
NYT Strands word list for May 31
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Museum
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Beach
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Tourism
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Castle
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Market
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Restaurant
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Momument
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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