Just remember he had connected showbiz parents and turn that self-loathing into class envy.

Three bonus points:

Yet you don't single it out, where its a much more blatant example of "The acting is great, but…".

I do wish he'd take off that cloak of immense prestige acting and do something small-scale again. I sometimes think he's too far gone, and then I remember he did The Ballad of Jack and Rose not so long ago.

As opposed to 3 hour strumming the "DDL is a capitalist monster" chord over and over?

I think it's easy to slag the film for its Altman and Scorsese swipes, but its such a fully realized world and so utterly entertaining that its hard to disagree. He may make more original and accomplished films, but this is the one you'll reach for first to watch again.

It's the scenes of Freddie drifting after leaving The Cause (and meeting one last time) that made me fall in love with the film, and which I still find some of the most soulful and melancholy filmmaking in the last few years of cinema. The final cut between Freddie in bed and back on the beach is a perfect moment.

My main salve against the lukewarm reception this has been getting mostly elsewhere, and from many self-professed PTA fans, is remembering that the response was not that different for The Master. Which is a masterpiece.

I mentioned it in a past article, but everytime someone suggests There Will Be Blood is better than The Master, a frog plummets to its death.

Hmm. I'll have to jot that down in the notebook holding my Oscar picks.

Hopefully the recent Sony leak doesn't keep Julianne Moore's Oscar away from her.

So how much would you bid for his jam now?

I'm willing to bet the references alone weren't the issue.

Distributors probably think so, but not really. Like the article says, its the very form they're spoofing, not the news story. Even if you don't know your Portilo from your Sebastian Coe, the show is still incredibly funny.

While we're on the subject: To Live and Die in LA. The first half is cliche city. The second starts to turn into a properly gripping affair. Then all of a sudden HOLY SHIT, NOT THE FACE!

It's something I try to do alot, but ain't nothing ever near its start time. If it was up to me, I'd sit out rush hour traffic most days in a theater. It helps having several theaters in general vicinity of one another/other commercial points of interest.

Does Romania have some movies for you!

Most people simply retcon the whole Laura Palmer arc into one season.

I know he's said in the past that his retirement could still include television, so probably.

Literally everything after (and including) Spacey's late night call to the Dudley home is a completely different storyline, although certain scenes will ring familiar in different contexts. So if you're worried you already know the story, you don't.