Several years ago, a man named John Tighe maintained a blog about the shady politics of his New York State town. It was called “Saratoga in Decline,” and in addition to documenting the cronyism and abuse he saw in the local political machine, he wrote extensively about NXVIM, which, by the way, is pronounced like the…

Yeah damn, I had a big crush on her when she was on Smallville, Lana was mostly annoying, but damn I wanted to kick Clark in the balls whenever he overlooked Chloe. Recruiting for an abusive sex cult, if true, low key or not, is very bad though. Granted I don’t know the whole story, or how she got involved in it.

My…

Even more surreal? The symbol that they burned into the women’s skin was a combination of Allison Mack’s and the leader (Keith Raniere)‘s initials. (And it was supposedly her idea to brand the women in the first place).

The sex cult was a secret offshoot from a legit-seeming self-improvement/growth series of courses - the organization had several high-profile people involved in various ways. Same leader for both. Various long-form articles have been written recently, and as far back as 2003 - it’s surprising it didn’t get more media…

I can tell you this happens with grooming, trust-building, and time... Not the same exactly, but my ex husband very slowly groomed and manipulated me into some really dark shit that I can see now that I didn’t want any part of (Related to the sub/dom type shit). Our relationship started out completely normal and…

Apparently the actress who played Lana Lang was also briefly tied to NXIVM, but it sounds like she was never involved in the criminal aspects of it (based on her statement). Obviously this is horrible for the victims, but it’s insane to me that CHLOE from Smallville was involved in a sex trafficking cult.

My understanding is 9/10 times they legally can’t. Mainly due to accidental use of of an idea or something from the screenplay.

I worked at a mid-level Canadian film fest for a couple years. My last year there we had a small Canadian film from a well-loved actor as a special presentation. The reason it was special was because it starred this actor, and his wife, who was dying of cancer at the time of the filming, and had wanted this film to be…

Also how Q&A’s get theirs. I went to a screening of LBJ a few months ago and Woody Harrellson and Rob Reiner did a surprise Q&A afterwards. At least half the folks who asked questions somehow made it about themselves. I think that’s just the type of person attracted to this sort of spotlight.

There are only two ways to make a Q&A work:

It sucks so much when Q&A audience members make the question about themselves.

It sucks so much when Q&A audience members make the question about themselves. When I saw Oh, Hello in DC and they did the Q&A at the end, there was a lady in front of us who got called on. She asked an okay question but then kept dragging it out and tried to have a back-and-forth with Gil and George and interrupted…

Penelope Ann Miller was gorgeous and perfect in everything she did.

She was awesome in The Freshman and she damn near stole the show in Carlito’s Way.

Never heard from her again. I can’t help but think she was “Weinsteined.”

Yeah, The Shadow was great fun. And as for

(Nine Inch Nails doing Joy Division, Rollins Band doing Suicide, Pantera doing Poison Idea) are fun, but the whole thing, taken together, feels like mid-’90s corporate product for kids trying to rebel.

It’s kind of like announcers who refused to call Muhammad Ali by that name and still used Cassius Clay. What’s the point, except to be a reactionary asshole?

Trans individuals suffer what’s called gender dysphoria. It can cause mental and physical pain. Being deadnamed or misgendered was/is so painful for one of my colleagues, he discribed the pain as feeling like someone was stabing him. I wish the best of humanity would shine during the learning curve that we all are in…

This. Yours is a reasonable, thoughtful take on a complex issue. (NOTE: this is not acceptable to many.)

You know what’s more hurtful? Getting killed by a car.

It depends on your reason for mentioning it. If you’re with your kid in a supermarket and you see her on the cover of a magazine, I don’t think it’s particularly hurtful to go, “Oh hey, did you know? That woman used to be known as Bruce Jenner, and she competed in the Olympics. What a fun fact we’ve both shared.”