Entertainment
The Robin Williams Sci-Fi Fantasy That Has Absolutely Been Forgotten By Everyone
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Simon Pegg has been one of my favorite comedic actors ever since I first saw Shaun of the Dead, and I was thrilled to see that Absolutely Anything was not only streaming for free on Tubi but also co-starring the late and legendary Robin Williams. Unfortunately for me, I have a tendency to click on any title without knowing anything about it because I genuinely have no real hard likes or dislikes when it comes to my entertainment choices; I just want to see what’s out there.
Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised, but in the case of Absolutely Anything, I’ll just say that my time would have been better spent watching reruns of Spaced instead.
Aliens Deliver Super Powers As A Test
Absolutely Anything boasts one of those classic “be careful what you wish for” kind of narratives like The Monkey’s Paw. Instead of a cursed paw that messes with one’s fate, Simon Pegg’s Neil Clarke gets gifted supernatural powers from a distant alien species who debates whether they should allow Earth into their galactic council, or destroy the planet.
The aliens decide that if Neil has the power to do absolutely anything he wants for 10 days, they’ll let Earth join the council if he uses his newfound powers for good. If Neil uses his powers for evil purposes, the trigger-happy aliens will blow up the planet and kill everybody living on it.
The Power To Make Kate Beckinsale Fall In Love With You
I’ve repeatedly said in the past that I love a quick setup if it means that a movie’s run time is spent exploring the premise to its fullest potential instead of wasting its entire first act on exposition. But Absolutely Anything is not one of those films because it does nothing but set up gag after gag with little to no payoff once its narrative framework is established.
Once Neil realizes that he can do literally anything he wants, he wastes his powers trying to get his neighbor and romantic interest, Catherine (Kate Beckinsale) to fall in love with him. As the title suggests, he can do absolutely anything, but he decides that he wants his boss, Headmaster Mr. Robinson (Eddie Izzard), to be nice to him. He wishes that his students at his school would all disappear and stop bothering him, but immediately reverses his wish when the classroom explodes and kills them.
Robin Williams Voices A Dog
My ears perked up when Neil granted his dog, Dennis (Robin Williams), the ability to speak and understand English. As a lifelong fan of Robin Williams, I was gravely disappointed when it quickly became clear that his voice-acting talent would be used for leg-humping jokes and incessantly begging for biscuits for the remainder of the film.
By the time Absolutely Anything gets into existential territory in the third act with Neil’s decision to fix the world’s many problems (war and climate change), it was already too late to redeem this movie that first tried to be witty, but then lost the plot with its many attempts to be an over-the-top, slapstick gross-out comedy.
The Absolutely Wrong Target Audience
Absolutely Anything is one of those movies that demonstrates how an amazing cast and fun idea can get in its own way if it fails to execute in a meaningful way. Pegg and the rest of his supporting cast understood the assignment, but I can’t in good conscience say that the assignment was worth their time given how great their past work had been leading up to this movie.
What’s more, this could have been a fun, low-stakes family film if it didn’t have an R rating. As far as I can tell, the only reason Absolutely Anything was rated R was due to its willingness to carpet-bomb the dialogue with f-bombs whenever the opportunity presented itself.
I always try to think of who movies like this are for, and in an effort to remain civil, I’m going to put Absolutely Anything in the laundry-folding or dish-washing category. If you want something playing in the background while you’re doing your household chores, you can fire up Tubi and give it a go. If you want to watch a solid alien movie starring Simon Pegg, I’d advise you to watch Paul instead.
Entertainment
Student sues matchmaking app for allegedly stealing her likeness for an ad
A 19-year-old University of Tennessee freshman is suing the makers of a social matchmaking app after the company allegedly lifted a video from her TikTok page and used it — without her knowledge or consent — in an advertisement suggesting she was looking for casual sexual encounters. The company then supposedly targeted that ad at men living in her own dormitory.
Kaelyn Lunglhofer filed the lawsuit on April 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee against Quantum Communications Development Limited, a British Virgin Islands-based company, and its Chinese affiliates. The defendants own and operate a social media and messaging app called Meete. Per the lawsuit, Meete claims to have 17 million users worldwide.
According to the complaint, Lunglhofer posted a video to her public TikTok account on May 31, 2025 — the day of her high school graduation — showing off an orange outfit from her bedroom while music played in the background. Defendants allegedly pulled a 10-second clip from that video and used it as the backdrop for a Meete advertisement that ran on social media platforms like Snapchat.
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The ad, per the complaint, featured female narration stating, “Are you looking for a friend with benefits? This app shows you women around you who are looking for some fun. You can video chat with them.” Lunglhofer’s face was on screen, and the Meete logo was prominently displayed.
According to the suit, Meete allegedly used geolocation technology to serve the ad specifically to male users within the Knoxville, Tennessee area. This includes men living on other floors of her on-campus dormitory building. Lunglhofer found out about the ad because one of the male residents in her dorm alerted her to it, she said in an interview with local ABC affiliate, WKRN.
The suit brings claims under the federal Lanham Act (which addresses businesses’ use of misleading claims), Tennessee’s right of publicity statute — known as the ELVIS Act — and Tennessee common law defamation. Lunglhofer is seeking compensatory damages of $750,000, disgorgement of Meete’s profits tied to the ad campaign, and punitive damages. She is also seeking to have the ad removed entirely.
Mashable reached out to Meete but did not receive a response in time for publication. The firm representing Lunglhofer also did not yet respond to a request for comment.
Topics
Apps & Software
Scams
Entertainment
Amazon just dropped the new M4 iPad Air to an all-time low, but youll have to act fast
SAVE 13%: As of May 4, you can get the 11-inch Apple iPad Air (M4) for $519.99, down from $599 at Amazon. That’s a 13% discount and $79.01 savings.
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It’s not often that we get a good Apple deal on a non-big-sale day (e.g., Prime Day), but yesterday Amazon dropped the Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M4) to an all-time low of $519.99. That’s a 13% discount, or an extra $79.01 in your pocket.
If you’re still on the fence, Mashable’s Tech Editor Timothy Beck Werth recently awarded this tablet a Mashable Choice award and rated it a 4.5/5 on our very strict (we’re pretty tough) scale. And while it looks basically the same as the previous-gen, Werth says it “delivers faster performance thanks to an improved neural engine and Apple’s N1 and C1X connectivity chips,” adding that “artists and note-takers will definitely appreciate this one.”
If you order it right now, Amazon guarantees free delivery by this Wednesday, May 6 (exactly four days before Mother’s Day, just in case you’re trying to get some extra brownie points with Mom).
Thanks to Liquid Glass and iPadOS26, the newest iPad Air can do double-duty as a laptop, though you’ll need Apple’s Magic Keyboard. Fortunately, both the Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil Pro are also on sale at Amazon; both iPad accessories are currently $30 off, at least, for Prime members.
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Entertainment
Roomba inventor unveils a companion robot thats more pet than helper
At this point, most home robots are either glorified vacuums or far-off concepts that may never become commercially available. However, we just got a look at a new home companion robot potentially coming to market next year, and its inventor has a proven track record of putting robots into homes.
Colin Angle, co-founder of Roomba maker iRobot, fully unveiled his new company Familiar Machines & Magic at the Wall Street Journal‘s The Future of Everything event this week.
FM&M’s goal is to make home robots that act more as emotional companions than chore machines. Its debut product is a four-legged robot companion codenamed Ami (per The Verge). The robot looks like a cross between a dog and a bear, and it’s designed to spark a connection with its human owner.
“The next era of robotics is not just about dexterity or humanoid form — it’s about machines that can build and sustain human connection,” Angle said, per an official press release.
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Ami probably won’t launch until next year at the earliest, and we don’t have a price point yet, but it’s still quite fascinating to look at. In addition to its Roomba pedigree, a Familiar Machines & Magic press release states that the company’s employees have also worked with Disney Research, MIT, Amazon, Boston Dynamics, Bose, and Sonos.
The robot animal has 23 degrees of freedom and can move its head, ears, and eyes.
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Credit: Familiar Machines & Magic
According to The Verge, it can’t grasp objects or climb stairs, which would severely limit its usefulness, if it existed to be useful, anyway. It uses on-device generative AI to learn about its owner and respond to the owner’s needs on an emotional level.
One very important detail is that it doesn’t speak, instead purring and making other pet-like noises. A pet seems to be the best point of comparison here, as the robot seems almost totally incapable of performing practical tasks, and instead exists to make people feel less lonely.
Some other crucial points include a touch-sensitive coat that should, in theory, be pleasurable to pet, and onboard cameras and microphones that help the robot react to situations without streaming that audio or video anywhere. It doesn’t have to connect to the internet to work.
The idea of using AI to cure the loneliness epidemic isn’t necessarily new or without merit, even if it can sometimes feel a bit dystopian.
Last year, Mashable reported on a service that allowed the elderly to talk to an AI over the phone, just for the sake of providing company. Multiple companies are creating AI-powered robot companions for elder care applications, including startups like ElliQ and Abi.
Anthropomorphizing robots and artificial intelligence can be dangerous, especially given what we know about AI psychosis. However, some experts believe that companion robots could prove beneficial in specific settings.
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Topics
Artificial Intelligence
Robotics
Celtics' Jaylen Brown critical of refs for 'agenda,' calls out 76ers' Joel Embiid
Chandler Simpson Is an Anomaly for Tampa Bay Rays
