I was wondering if that's why Ellen joined them after that one woman ran out.

Times are hard.

Yeah, I found the ending really disappointing. I would love to read an interview where someone just asks her point blank why she ends her stories this way - is it to provide escapism (a valid reason) or because she personally believes in this type of romance...or, as you say, is there external pressure. It could be…

Man, I totally disagree with you - I thought she was excellent. Although I agree with you that it is annoying how often Americans are cast in roles that could be better filled by Brits, in this case I thought she had the right kind of energy for the part. Becky is a force of modernity, after all, and I thought…

Vanity Fair was excellent, too - pissed off all the Masterpiece Theatre fans, but whatevs, it was great, and she was astonishing in it. That woman is a fine actress, and does not deserve to be lumped in with mediocrities like Diaz and Hudson.

What did you think about Kissing Jessica Stein?

I found a picture of her business partner.

Describing her perfume as being about "overcoming things" seems like more of a warning than a sales pitch.

Yup, I have members of my family I would not want recorded for public consumption. Doesn't everyone? We should stop bullying the weird kids.

I know this is a minor point, but how is a suburb of Melbourne the Outback?

I also love this movie. I haven't seen 4:44, because it looked like it was retreading the same ground, only in a much less interesting way.

I thought immediately of Shirley Valentine, too. Not sure about Educating Rita, though, because it's too much like My Fair Lady, from what I very vaguely remember. The male character is a cipher, but not really an MPDG - he's much too much of a drag.

In Quebec, it is illegal to advertise to children under the age of 13.

I know, it was all very professional.

Do you think she did this stuff as a silly joke for her friends, and then she got famous, or is she actually so full of herself that she thought this mediocre shit would be interesting/funny to strangers?

Well, I just mean that there is a pre-existing tradition of calling people from the Establishment "boring" as way of totally pissing them off without directly engaging them in dialogue, because dialogue with such people is unpleasant. It's actually super effective, you should try it some time. They get really,…

You are also my hero.

Is "she had a very pretty face" a euphemism, or something? Because otherwise it justs seems like a super back-handed compliment. Like something your mean aunt would say.

Whoa. "Dehumanized"? That's judgy.

True. And it's easy for us to fret over them because the internet has allowed us to pick up the rock they were hiding under, but I doubt this is a new phenomenon or one that is going away any time soon. I mean, I want to think this is technology's fault, or society's fault, and that we will move past this phase in…