Interesting perspective. I am guessing we are in the same age range but I remember seeing it at the time and being incredibly disappointed. It seemed like such a letdown after so much hype. I was definitely one of those people who in real time asked myself some variation of “am I really enjoying this, or am I telling…

It would be miraculous if they looked at Star Wars insistence on including a Skywalker in every story and said “let’s not do that with Jack Sparrow and PotC”. But, they won’t. They won’t be able to escape the cold comfort of Jack Sparrow as the main draw because it is familiar and execs would rather fail with a known…

I actually really like that idea. t sort of makesI sense too - he sees the future, he knows she will die, she does and in his despair he openly accepts the bullshit that Palpatine is feeding him about how if he goes dark he can bring back the dead (side note, I always thought this was pretty clearly a lie by Palpatine…

About the only thing that continues to resonate with me about the prequels is that Anakin’s path to the dark side is based on a lie he is willing to test out in order to save the love of his life. It was handled poorly, the dialogue was awful, the switch is flipped way too quick, the execution is bad, it seems so…

I don’t doubt that Yi felt uncomfortable or something happened that met the definition of assault. That kind of stuff seems prevalent and under-reported, so I can see that happening. At the same time, this seems to be a consistent issue for them.

I remember that one too, that was great. When did Tom Cruise go full Scientology? I know he was considered a fairly bulletproof A-lister, then something happened in the early 00s. I heard his Scientologist sister encouraged Tom to be more open about it and did less to reign in the weirdness that his previous managers…

On the SNL reviews for this site, I often comment something to the effect of enjoying SNL most when it seems like a party and everyone is having fun and the audience is just invited to watch. MTV awards used to *feel* that way - a bunch of A-listers enjoying a party, having fun and the audience got to join in for the…

That’s a good point about a peek behind the curtain of celebs. It did seem like even A-listers were willing to relax a bit and have fun, which really humanized them. With social media, there is no need for events like that and in many cases I feel like we know too much about celebs as it is. Events like this run the…

That and the Jack Black as Spider-Man sketch were things I remember legitimately laughing at and wishing there was a way I could watch again without having to wait for a replay. If Youtube had been around then, i would have watched those a million times.

It seems so ancient now, but I distinctly remember a time when the MTV awards were something that I looked forward to (FWIW, middle school and high school in the 90s/00s), largely enjoyed, and talked about with my friends the next day. I am not sure how you “reimagine” them or whatever, but it does seem like their…

The podracing scene is a bit of a litmus test for people liking the movie. Anecdotally, those who liked the TPM (or are nostalgic for it, or didn’t hate it, or defend it, or whatever you want to call it) seem to think that the race was exciting and well done and set up some of Anakin’s abilities, or some combination…

I thought about the first Bayverse Transformers movie myself, but figured since it happens during the school year it doesn’t count. But... you’re right. More than what is happening on the screen, that movie feels like a summer blockbuster and I can still picture myself coming out of the sweltering heat and sitting in…

That’s encouraging to hear.

When I was a kid, it was The Sandlot. I haven’t seen it in years, but I am honestly looking forward to watching it again with my kids when they are older to relive it a bit myself. My guess is they won’t connect with it the way I did, sadly. But to me, that movie was the summer - baseball, pools, town fair,…

Honestly, good for him. He made something that was for him and he loved and it seems like he’s the only one. But he is not hating on the critics, nor does he feel ashamed - he disagrees but loves what he made. That is seriously a great attitude and good for him.

I’m not opposed to an Office reboot and in fact would be inclined to check it out. However, Peacock sucks so I will probably not be watching it at all. Oh well.

An issue I have with this strategy is that these things are mutually independent. If Secret Invasion was the only thing that came out in 2023, it would not have been better. They would not have pulled everyone working on the MCU to work on this project instead (and if they did, it probably would have been worse…

I don’t love Biden, but he is clearly the lesser of two evils and that other evil is... pretty evil. I suspect I’m not alone in doing the unpleasant thing to prevent the rise of fascism in the US, with the hope that we can sort things out when the threat of christo-fascist barbarians destroying the country is lessened.

The Big Lebowski really is a unicorn of a movie. You’re right, the first time through it seems like a mess. Speaking for myself, what brought me back were two things: the jokes (my friends and I incessantly quoted that movie) and the fact that I appreciated that this whole story happens around Lebowski, who has no…

This is too bad because I was up for a spiritual successor to Lebowski, which this looked to be. Apparently not. If Pine wants to make a personal film, that’s all well and good; he’s earned it, he can do it. At the same time, these passion projects don’t always work out, in part because film seems to be such a…