Entertainment
The Netflix Sci-Fi Thriller That Changed Movie History
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
You might have slept on The Cloverfield Paradox when it first came out, but this sequel was much more than the third film of an innovative sci-fi franchise. When you stream this movie on Netflix, you’re doing more than watching the story about astronauts who must survive a completely unthinkable scenario. You’re also watching a film whose clever marketing strategies ended up changing movie history.
What is The Cloverfield Paradox actually about? The plot centers on a group of astronauts conducting experiments aboard a space station in order to help solve our planet’s growing energy crisis. After they use a particle accelerator, Earth appears to vanish altogether, leaving them to frantically discover what happened and hope against hope that they are able to return home.
The Cloverfield Paradox Didn’t Start Out As A Cloverfield Movie
Part of what makes 2018’s The Cloverfield Paradox so fascinating is that it wasn’t originally written as a Cloverfield film. The first of director J.J. Abrams Cloverfield movies, called Cloverfield, was released in 2008 and involved a gigantic alien monster attacking the world and destroying entire cities.
The Cloverfield Paradox started out based on Oren Uziel’s spec script for God Particle, but during production, Cloverfield creator J.J. Abrams saw an opportunity to connect this new film to his franchise and create a larger cinematic universe. Somewhat ironically, this also happened with the previous film 10 Cloverfield Lane, which was developed from the script for The Cellar, a movie originally unrelated to the Cloverfield franchise.
If nothing else, The Cloverfield Paradox is worth checking out because of the stars involved. Bradley Cooper does some killer voice work, and we also get another stellar performance (or should that be an interstellar performance) from John Goodman. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also shines in this film. Between this and her great performance in that otherwise forgettable prequel to The Thing, she established her science fiction bona fides long before suiting up in Ashoka.
Changing The Course Of Movie History With Marketing
When it came to marketing The Cloverfield Paradox, the new film took very direct inspiration from Cloverfield. As with that original movie, the sequel utilized a viral marketing campaign that provided some crucial backstory about some of our key characters. To access and understand this backstory, though, fans had to put together many virtual puzzles, including a weirdly engaging augmented reality game.
The viral marketing and ARG elements were a great way to rope in the more dedicated fans, but what really set the marketing for The Cloverfield Paradox over the top was its Super Bowl trailer.
Nobody knew the trailer was going to drop during the big game, and the trailer further surprised fans by confirming the final name for the film as well as the fact that it would stream on Netflix. The biggest surprise of all, though, was that the movie was available to stream as soon as the game was over, meaning that Netflix subscribers who enjoyed the trailer didn’t have to wait to experience the whole movie.
In retrospect, The Cloverfield Paradox changed movie history by changing how studios market films as well as how audiences view them. Nearly a decade ago, this movie’s surprise release on Netflix gave audiences a glimpse of a future which would increasingly be dominated by the digital distribution of movies. If you’d like to experience that future for yourself, all you have to do is stream The Cloverfield Paradox on Netflix today.
Entertainment
Farscape Breakout Stars Showed Off Their Hidden Talents On Screen
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
By the time most actors show up on screen they have already spent a lifetime working in entertainment. There are levels talent and creativity on any set that the audience never gets to see. Musical theater, gymnastics, dancing, martial arts, the list goes on and on, which is why it’s always cool when they get to show off with the cameras rolling. Farscape found time for its cast to work in their real-life talents into their characters giving us great moments on-screen, and a celebration of the raw talent on display behind the scenes.
Chiana’s Fire Dance
Gigi Edgley played Chiana in what was supposed to be a one-off appearance in Season 1. She did such a great job as the cat-like alien that the writers changed their plans and she became a part of the main cast, and eventually, the face of the series. Chiana showed off a lot of hidden talents over the course of her time on the Moya, but one came directly from Gigi’s performance background. Season 3, Episode 13, “Stratch’n’Sniff,” during their time on a pleasure planet Chiana and Jool have a bet about who can entertain a crowd the best. Jool does a flip, Chiana dances with firesticks.
The moment was written in after Gigi was spotted twirling fire off set. Turns out, she’s a talented flow artist, having picked up the skill from the circus. Her family has been in the circus business since the 1930s and the Edgley’s are credited for bringing the Moscow State Circus to Australia. It wasn’t only Chiana who constantly surprised the crew of the Moya with her talents, it was Gigi Edgley surprising the cast and crew of Farscape with hers.
Scorpius Rocks Out
Scorpius is one of the greatest villains in sci-fi history. His distinctive black leather outfit and haunting, whispered threats made him an immediate hit from the first moment he appeared in the hidden Peacekeeper base. Wayne Pygram, like Gigi Edgley, was never intended to be part of Farscape’s main cast. Fortunately, he was the perfect man for the role and turned Scorpius into the recurring archenemy of John Crichton. He did so good, that the producers decided they needed a way to keep Scorpius as a threat without watering him down.
That led to the creation of Harvey, a part of Scorpius inside Crichton’s head. Harvey appeared wearing a Hawaiian shirt and was again, an immediate hit. Season 2’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” features multiple Harvey/Scorpius avatars, including one playing the drums. Wayne Pygram didn’t need a stunt double for that as he’s an accomplished drummer in real life. He taught percussion to students at high schools in Australia, and alongside his Farscape co-star Anthony Simcoe (Ka D’argo), played in the band Signal Room.
Farscape is filled with talented performers, including the puppeteers who brought Pilot and Rygel to life in every episode Virginia Hey didn’t only play Zhaan as a spiritual guide, she’s one in real life, and has spent decades leading spiritual wellness retreats and seminars. The success of the small Australian sci-fi series makes sense once you see the incredible talent responsible for giving us one of the greatest sci-fi shows of all time.
Farscape is currently streaming for free on Pluto, Tubi, The CW, Sling TV, and The Roku Channel.
Entertainment
Cancel your cloud storage and get 10TB for life for $252
TL;DR: Cancel your monthly cloud storage subscription and get an Internxt 10TB lifetime subscription on sale for $251.99 with code JULY30.
$251.99
$2,900
Save $2,648.01
Google One’s 10TB plan runs $49.99 per month, every month, with the meter still running five and ten years from now. That’s hundreds of dollars for not that much space. Internxt takes a different approach. Instead of paying monthly, you can get a 10TB secure cloud storage lifetime subscription, and it’s even on sale now for $251.99 (reg. $2,900).
Internxt uses zero-knowledge encryption, so your files get encrypted on your own device before they ever leave it. Not even Internxt can see what files you upload. Files are also chunked into smaller encrypted pieces during transfer, so even if data were intercepted, nothing readable would come through.
Mashable Deals
Past the standard AES-256 encryption most cloud providers use, Internxt layers in post-quantum algorithms that protect against future quantum computing threats. That means your files are already protected against threats that may come in the future.
Internxt runs across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and any modern browser, with no cap on the number of devices you can sync. Sharing also works across all of those platforms, Linux included. Because Internxt is decentralized and open source, your files aren’t locked to a proprietary system. You can export your data whenever you want, so the storage stays portable as your needs change.
The full codebase is publicly available on GitHub, has been independently audited by Securitum, and the service is fully GDPR compliant. PCWorld also gave Internxt its Editors’ Choice award.
Mashable Deals
Stop renting your cloud storage. Through July 5 at 11:59 p.m. PT, you can get a 10TB Internxt lifetime subscription on sale for only $251.99 with code JULY30.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 5, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you’re a big spender.
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.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
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.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
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.
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:
Mashable Top Stories
-
Yellow: Healthy snack
-
Green: Spending methods
-
Blue: Swipe it
-
Purple: One letter
Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today
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 #1120 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
-
Granola ingredients: HONEY, NUTS, OATS, SEEDS
-
Payment methods: CARD, CASH, CHECK, WIRE
-
Amex card types: CENTURION, GOLD, GREEN, PLATINUM
-
What “W” might stand for: TUNGSTEN, WEST, WIN, WITH
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.
Almost 90 new unicorns have been minted so far this year — here they are
What is Bending Spoons? The little-known AOL and Vimeo owner that’s now public
Naomi Osaka upsets No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to reach quarters at Wimbledon
Entertainment
The Netflix Sci-Fi Thriller That Changed Movie History
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
You might have slept on The Cloverfield Paradox when it first came out, but this sequel was much more than the third film of an innovative sci-fi franchise. When you stream this movie on Netflix, you’re doing more than watching the story about astronauts who must survive a completely unthinkable scenario. You’re also watching a film whose clever marketing strategies ended up changing movie history.
What is The Cloverfield Paradox actually about? The plot centers on a group of astronauts conducting experiments aboard a space station in order to help solve our planet’s growing energy crisis. After they use a particle accelerator, Earth appears to vanish altogether, leaving them to frantically discover what happened and hope against hope that they are able to return home.
The Cloverfield Paradox Didn’t Start Out As A Cloverfield Movie
Part of what makes 2018’s The Cloverfield Paradox so fascinating is that it wasn’t originally written as a Cloverfield film. The first of director J.J. Abrams Cloverfield movies, called Cloverfield, was released in 2008 and involved a gigantic alien monster attacking the world and destroying entire cities.
The Cloverfield Paradox started out based on Oren Uziel’s spec script for God Particle, but during production, Cloverfield creator J.J. Abrams saw an opportunity to connect this new film to his franchise and create a larger cinematic universe. Somewhat ironically, this also happened with the previous film 10 Cloverfield Lane, which was developed from the script for The Cellar, a movie originally unrelated to the Cloverfield franchise.
If nothing else, The Cloverfield Paradox is worth checking out because of the stars involved. Bradley Cooper does some killer voice work, and we also get another stellar performance (or should that be an interstellar performance) from John Goodman. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also shines in this film. Between this and her great performance in that otherwise forgettable prequel to The Thing, she established her science fiction bona fides long before suiting up in Ashoka.
Changing The Course Of Movie History With Marketing
When it came to marketing The Cloverfield Paradox, the new film took very direct inspiration from Cloverfield. As with that original movie, the sequel utilized a viral marketing campaign that provided some crucial backstory about some of our key characters. To access and understand this backstory, though, fans had to put together many virtual puzzles, including a weirdly engaging augmented reality game.
The viral marketing and ARG elements were a great way to rope in the more dedicated fans, but what really set the marketing for The Cloverfield Paradox over the top was its Super Bowl trailer.
Nobody knew the trailer was going to drop during the big game, and the trailer further surprised fans by confirming the final name for the film as well as the fact that it would stream on Netflix. The biggest surprise of all, though, was that the movie was available to stream as soon as the game was over, meaning that Netflix subscribers who enjoyed the trailer didn’t have to wait to experience the whole movie.
In retrospect, The Cloverfield Paradox changed movie history by changing how studios market films as well as how audiences view them. Nearly a decade ago, this movie’s surprise release on Netflix gave audiences a glimpse of a future which would increasingly be dominated by the digital distribution of movies. If you’d like to experience that future for yourself, all you have to do is stream The Cloverfield Paradox on Netflix today.
Entertainment
Farscape Breakout Stars Showed Off Their Hidden Talents On Screen
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
By the time most actors show up on screen they have already spent a lifetime working in entertainment. There are levels talent and creativity on any set that the audience never gets to see. Musical theater, gymnastics, dancing, martial arts, the list goes on and on, which is why it’s always cool when they get to show off with the cameras rolling. Farscape found time for its cast to work in their real-life talents into their characters giving us great moments on-screen, and a celebration of the raw talent on display behind the scenes.
Chiana’s Fire Dance
Gigi Edgley played Chiana in what was supposed to be a one-off appearance in Season 1. She did such a great job as the cat-like alien that the writers changed their plans and she became a part of the main cast, and eventually, the face of the series. Chiana showed off a lot of hidden talents over the course of her time on the Moya, but one came directly from Gigi’s performance background. Season 3, Episode 13, “Stratch’n’Sniff,” during their time on a pleasure planet Chiana and Jool have a bet about who can entertain a crowd the best. Jool does a flip, Chiana dances with firesticks.
The moment was written in after Gigi was spotted twirling fire off set. Turns out, she’s a talented flow artist, having picked up the skill from the circus. Her family has been in the circus business since the 1930s and the Edgley’s are credited for bringing the Moscow State Circus to Australia. It wasn’t only Chiana who constantly surprised the crew of the Moya with her talents, it was Gigi Edgley surprising the cast and crew of Farscape with hers.
Scorpius Rocks Out
Scorpius is one of the greatest villains in sci-fi history. His distinctive black leather outfit and haunting, whispered threats made him an immediate hit from the first moment he appeared in the hidden Peacekeeper base. Wayne Pygram, like Gigi Edgley, was never intended to be part of Farscape’s main cast. Fortunately, he was the perfect man for the role and turned Scorpius into the recurring archenemy of John Crichton. He did so good, that the producers decided they needed a way to keep Scorpius as a threat without watering him down.
That led to the creation of Harvey, a part of Scorpius inside Crichton’s head. Harvey appeared wearing a Hawaiian shirt and was again, an immediate hit. Season 2’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” features multiple Harvey/Scorpius avatars, including one playing the drums. Wayne Pygram didn’t need a stunt double for that as he’s an accomplished drummer in real life. He taught percussion to students at high schools in Australia, and alongside his Farscape co-star Anthony Simcoe (Ka D’argo), played in the band Signal Room.
Farscape is filled with talented performers, including the puppeteers who brought Pilot and Rygel to life in every episode Virginia Hey didn’t only play Zhaan as a spiritual guide, she’s one in real life, and has spent decades leading spiritual wellness retreats and seminars. The success of the small Australian sci-fi series makes sense once you see the incredible talent responsible for giving us one of the greatest sci-fi shows of all time.
Farscape is currently streaming for free on Pluto, Tubi, The CW, Sling TV, and The Roku Channel.
Entertainment
Cancel your cloud storage and get 10TB for life for $252
TL;DR: Cancel your monthly cloud storage subscription and get an Internxt 10TB lifetime subscription on sale for $251.99 with code JULY30.
$251.99
$2,900
Save $2,648.01
Google One’s 10TB plan runs $49.99 per month, every month, with the meter still running five and ten years from now. That’s hundreds of dollars for not that much space. Internxt takes a different approach. Instead of paying monthly, you can get a 10TB secure cloud storage lifetime subscription, and it’s even on sale now for $251.99 (reg. $2,900).
Internxt uses zero-knowledge encryption, so your files get encrypted on your own device before they ever leave it. Not even Internxt can see what files you upload. Files are also chunked into smaller encrypted pieces during transfer, so even if data were intercepted, nothing readable would come through.
Mashable Deals
Past the standard AES-256 encryption most cloud providers use, Internxt layers in post-quantum algorithms that protect against future quantum computing threats. That means your files are already protected against threats that may come in the future.
Internxt runs across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and any modern browser, with no cap on the number of devices you can sync. Sharing also works across all of those platforms, Linux included. Because Internxt is decentralized and open source, your files aren’t locked to a proprietary system. You can export your data whenever you want, so the storage stays portable as your needs change.
The full codebase is publicly available on GitHub, has been independently audited by Securitum, and the service is fully GDPR compliant. PCWorld also gave Internxt its Editors’ Choice award.
Mashable Deals
Stop renting your cloud storage. Through July 5 at 11:59 p.m. PT, you can get a 10TB Internxt lifetime subscription on sale for only $251.99 with code JULY30.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 5, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you’re a big spender.
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.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
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.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
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.
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:
Mashable Top Stories
-
Yellow: Healthy snack
-
Green: Spending methods
-
Blue: Swipe it
-
Purple: One letter
Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today
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 #1120 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
-
Granola ingredients: HONEY, NUTS, OATS, SEEDS
-
Payment methods: CARD, CASH, CHECK, WIRE
-
Amex card types: CENTURION, GOLD, GREEN, PLATINUM
-
What “W” might stand for: TUNGSTEN, WEST, WIN, WITH
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.
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