Magnolia is bloated AF. It needs to be cut in half. There are moments of brilliance but they get severely bogged down by too many other stories. The Tom Cruise toxic masculinity story really works (fight me) and the William H. Macy con man but there is too much bloat overall. The final act also falls totally flat for…

I see your point and I think it was the marketing. The marketing for this movie made it seem like Tony was a more central figure rather than supporting. 

Very interesting! I loved American Honey and I think Andrea Arnold is a massively underrated director. I feel terrible for her after what happened to her work on Big Little Lies. 

I think it might have actually been HBO’s own The Deuce well before Bridgerton.

I agree with you. Sour grapes indeed. 

I honestly wonder if he will take the opportunity. He seems like such a crockety bastard. It could go either way. 

I will agree with you about The Many Saints of Newark. It wasn’t very good. The interesting aspect is young Tony and he doesn’t have enough screen time. If they do another movie about Tony in his 20s that would really peak my interest.

I would watch the hell out of that series. 

That is exactly my question! I have been operating under the assumption that the entire family gets whacked at the diner for years. I should re-watch the series because it would be interesting to see if I come to same conclusion.

Bingo. It’s his own psychology at work. See his inspiration for Livia as his own terrible mother. 

I agree with you. I also think David Chase is infinitely bitter that his movie career never took off despite how beloved The Soprano’s is even 20 years later.

You are missing the point of experiencing art then. 

I concur. 

OMG that is an amazing take. I would add the arrogance of Voldemort and the desire to live forever by constantly changing her own canon and asserting author’s privilege over EVERYTHING. Also there is the discrimination against trans people...

I think there is something to be said for the generation of young readers fantasizing about boarding school as a result of the Harry Potter books. I definitely did. When I eventually became an exchange student when I was 16 years old a huge draw for me was that I got to attend boarding school for free for a bit.

Same. Harry Potter was a safe and magical place for me as a deeply sad and lonely kid that did not fit in at school or in my own family. 

I love everything you wrote! I feel very similarly. 

I think the case of Rowling hits different for long time fans like myself because the message she gave us as kids reading her books was that diversity and equality matter and should be celebrated. Her anti-trans statements feel like a personal betrayal of everything she taught us to believe in from a young age. I was…

That was not my take on Jackie at all. To me, the film is transformative because it forces views to look beyond the fairytale the public fantasizes about and instead reveals a deeply layered woman in the spotlight of history. Natalie Portman was a revelation in Jackie.

Would you mind sharing your thinking on this more? I consider myself a cinephile and have a pretty wide range of films and directors that I enjoy. I also see MANY films every single year. I saw Nomadland when it came out and...it just can’t understand the hype. It was boring. There are beautiful shots in it but...it…