That was really good. I don’t really like Lindy West because she can have an abrasive, sensationalized, willfully ignorant tone in her work, but that was well-written and right-on.

I read dance magazines (Pointe, Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit), and Maddie and other tween dancers are covered in Dance Spirit and are successful on the competition circuit and get into music videos and commercials and dance backup for pop and hip-hop stars. It’s inspirational for other kids who want to be professional…

Which one? I thought the first one was OK, the second one had really good dancing, the third had a cute young teen romance and jazz dancing and tap dancing, the fourth blew, and I didn’t see the fifth.

Yeah, stuff like Flashdance (where she’s trying to become a ballerina at 18 despite never had ballet classes before, and seems more hip-hop/street jazz anyway), the Center Stage sequel, Save the Last Dance (ballet girl trying to learn hip-hop and sucking at it), or anything else where it’s a girl who is poor and never…

Center Stage 2: Turn it Up is enjoyably bad. The female lead character taught herself professional-level ballet from tapes, including apparently teaching herself pointe, which is dangerous and stupid. It’s her “raw talent” that makes her successful, despite her lack of formal training and apparently teaching herself…

I laughed at it when I saw a trailer of it before seeing San Andreas. The oven scene made me laugh, and I said out loud, “Oh my God, you’re not even trying,” and others laughed at what I said.

I love your writing, you are really talented and interesting to read. Thank you for writing about this macabre tour of NYC.

Likely because she has dark skin, she wears suits and doesn’t sell sex in the conventional way, is more influenced by Prince than more accessible pop stars, and is way more creative and badass than many other pop stars out today.

I was bored by her. Her jokes and delivery were flat, and she wasn’t funny or subversive at all, just bland and trying to sound “edgy.”

True. I tried pot a little when I was 17, but I wasn’t into drugs, and I didn’t lose my virginity until I was in my 20s. I likely would have been a boring teen to make a movie about because I was into making zines, watching old movies, and hanging out with my nerdy friends.

Thank you. It’s a nice story, but I don’t find it interesting. A story about a teen girl discovering her sexuality by having sex with her mom’s boyfriend doesn’t sound interesting to me, it sounds like a rose-colored depiction of teen youth. I don’t doubt that the main character has agency and isn’t a victim, I just…

I couldn’t stand it when I was 14 because I didn’t like the beats, and I still don’t like it.

Yeah, this version does suck. I don’t even like “Pony” (the beats sound like someone belching), but I hate this 2010s-era club music.

I thought it was pretty fun to watch, and was way more a comedy than the first one. Some of the dance moves are sexy, and it is fun watching guys who can really dance well (Channing Tatum and Twitch mostly).

Yuengling is delicious. I visited Philly a month ago and had it there, it was great! :)

It is pretty much meant to be shocking. And while it was Chloe Sevingy and Rosario Dawson’s first movie, they were clearly noobs at acting, and got better later on.

He’s done a lot, he’s just not a famous face. I’ve seen his name in the credits for indie films, big movies, and TV work.

Same. I was a suburban kid from Long Island, and while I fantasized about living in NYC circa the 70’s or early 80’s, I didn’t romanticize the teens or environment in Kids, I thought most of them were scummy and stupid and spending too much time hooking up, doing drugs, and acting like asses. I can see why someone…

A lot of pop music sounded like the Neptunes, because they were all over the pop and hip-hop scene, doing songs for NSYNC, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Nelly, and various other forgettable artists. Pharrell Williams has only became more pop-famous in the last few years as himself, but as half of the Neptunes, he…

I really liked this song, and I still have it on a mix tape that I made from 2005, along with a lot of mash-ups, and 80’s pop cheese (Belinda Carlisle, Air Supply, Michael Bolton, Bryan Adams).