It’s amazing how much overlap there is between people whos excuse for liking pedo-anime or raging over localization is “it’s a different country” and people who believe that “moral relativism and post modernism” are the greatest threat in the world.

...and before anyone comes at me with, “Well, some of the women in these cultures willingly participate in these systems,” I’d like you to familiarize yourself with two things...

For formative influence: The Third Man, The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk, Godzilla, The Music Box.

And I have somewhat crazy theory, but as a film theorist this my thang, really excellent horror shows no explicit violence, gore, or graphicness. A la Psycho or M. Great horror is in the mind, not the brutality.

Dear Margaret, things crashed into things before Star Wars. You are sounding kooky in a bad way. 9/11 postulating will never be OK, imho.

Also, it’s got to be s little crazy when people keep asking “so, that crazy dystopia you wrote decades ago—is that now?”

(Also, Handmaid’s Tale aside, she doesn’t have the literary chops to be so full of herself. There, I said it.)

Each new article about this series deepens my sympathy for the producers and thankless PAs who have to hold things together when these guys are peacocking at each other on set. “You tell that candyass to stay on his side of the swanky high-tech garage.” “Well, why don’t you tell THAT candyass that my LIGHT is here.”…

I’m hesitant to call Walt Disney a great animator. Nor did he direct anything that his studio is most well known for. Producer, entrepreneur, and visionary, yes.

Kaguya may be from Ghibli, but it’s not the kind of Ghibli most people think of when you refer to the studio. In my opinion, anyway. I do agree with you, though, watching only Ghibli films won’t quite get across the full spectrum of anime.

I feel like Studio Ghibli has always occupied a stranger position in anime fandom. The most vocal gatekeepers often reject or downplay Ghibli films because they straddle the social boundary between the anime subculture and the global art cinema.

What a loss. The Tale of Princess Kaguya is proof that old age did nothing to dull Takahata’s creative vitality or his sensitive eye for human behavior. And I especially admire the way that the film offers fresh surprises to long-time viewers of Japanese animation without walling itself off in a fandom.

The games here that I’ve played are all stand-outs. I can’t wait for the rest of these to come to the Switch.

Whenever a new story about Michael Rapaport pops up, I have to wonder whether Spike Lee was giving Rapaport the benefit of the doubt when he cast him in Bamboozled or inviting him to unknowingly participate in his own future pantsing. That movie makes me think we need an award for accidental method acting.

The headline had me going. It seems like exactly the kind of idea that Trump would float, without any intention of acting on it, to muddy the waters in time for midterms.

Sondheim’s too monotone, anyway.

Thanks. It is nearly impossible to defend Catherine Breillat’s treatment of actors and especially her pointlessly vicious comments about Asia Argento, but her films still seem worthwhile in a nerve-wracking way.

I would absolutely LOVE to hear someone’s argument for why a young woman rubbing worms all over her vagina is a Powerful Feminist Statement.

Breillat is the Cool Girl of French cinema. I sincerely hope to see less of her type of male-gaze-friendly films from the next generation of women directors.

I’m inclined to believe Asia. Breillat’s films are full of horrifying misogyny, although I’m sure someone will come along to explain why I’m not deep and French enough to understand why they’re actually feminist masterpieces.