He's a better actor than Harry Potter would lead you to believe, certainly. If you had only seen him in that you wouldn't rate him at all, and I always found it quite weird that he never much improved in that series even when he was concurrently doing much better work out outside of it.

I mean, on literal level the series got good reviews and made lots of money.

I'm almost impressed at how shamelessly they're copying the cartoon. When nostalgia's your only selling point, go all in I guess!

Down with that sort of thing!!

I've noticed on Twitter there's a growing backlash against using Harry Potter/Game of Thrones analogies for this election result. Some people seem worried it cheapens the very real fear many are feeling. Never really occurred to me, but I do wonder if we sometimes use pop culture as a safety blanket more than we…

Here's another one: pay attention to the political situation in countries which are similar to the US.

Apparently this was all Brexit's fault so, as a Brit, allow me to say that I'm really fucking sorry. Our country is as shocked (for a second time) as you guys are.

Finally saw Jurassic World a month ago. Really bad, and also perplexing - why did they chicken out of following through on the main draw: average visitors being terrorized? It's no coincidence the 2 minutes where that actually happens in the movie are by far the best.

Boyle said the era of the first film was deliberately ambiguous. It could have been the 80s or 90s.

Yes. He has one of the most memorable movie deaths ever in Lost Highway.

To get one scene at all in Malick movie is pretty good going given his penchant for cutting actors out completely.

The fact that Nolte was considered a genuine sex symbol for a brief period is still one of Hollywood's great quirks. I can see it, from certain angles, but that intensely gruff, rugged appeal definitely feels like something from a bygone era now.

Did you like The Goldfinch? I have to say I thought it was really mediocre, especially after liking Secret History so much. By the Amsterdam caper section I was practically cringing on Tartt's behalf. It's like her editor was terrified of telling her 'no, Donna, this just sucks.'

It's an obvious choice, but Flannery O'Connor is probably my favourite female author. Her short story collections are brilliantly perverse. Occasionally you read a writer and know they just 'get' humanity.

It might be that they've read female authors without knowing it if the author's first name is merely initials.

I've heard mixed things about Marvel's Netflix output from friends who I usually agree with. Like, the shows are well-meaning but the plotting is pretty terrible and relies on a binge-watch mentality to keep viewers going until the end.

Joking aside I am surprised at how many Gaga apologists there apparently are in the AV Club comment section. I mean, you can like what you like but even if superficial pop is you thing surely you can do better than her.

A friend of mine saw Johnson, then London mayor, doing some promo with journalists somewhere in the city a few years back. He had a brief chat with Johnson, who seemed pretty normal and surprisingly serious, before he had to go back to the press to do his thing.

……..

I'm always happy to see her appear in a film I'm watching, but I'm under no illusion: she get props for surviving Twilight by making great choices rather than being an amazing actor in her own right.