I can understand cancelling the tour and things (not endorsing that move, just I get it)—but without more info it sounds pretty boilerplate. I don’t know if this means a breakup like the write up says.

This is a great feature--thanks for doing it.

Except, why would Netflix do that? To prop up theaters, a whole business they don’t need except for award show qualifications?

Yeah—having thought more about this and his output, I think you’re right. I would add a nod for generally strong casting —which he should get some credit for drawing out or getting out of the way of good performances.

(Given his reputation as a total asshole, I’m surprised that the unerringly kind Chef Terry invited David to be a part of this sacred evening. Talk about a vibe killer.)

Eh, I think Ridley Scott has gotten progressively hackier, with some outliers, but when it comes to politics? He’s at his hackiest. So yeah, when he makes it a primary thing I think the movie is going to suffer for it.

I kinda think that about all Phoenix’s performances! And I was one of those who thought they gave Crowe the Oscar for the Insider the year before more than Gladiator. But yeah, such a solid movie all around.

Sure, and they own the rights to the footage they use and so on. Contracts were fulfilled and so on—but even if you’re not going to work him with new footage or voice over or whatever, I think it would been courteous to say hey, given how heavy it leans on the memory of it all.

Just saw Scott’s Robin Hood relatively recently, and the shoehorned politics was pretty funny. I’m guessing some of that is going on here. I never thought of the first Gladiator as something with a lot of depth (if very entertaining), but Joaquin Phoenix added weight to what could’ve been a thankless caricatured role.…

I guess I would say that it has been long enough to say that she continues to have pull and get cast—and while online is rightly a different place than ticket sales, it’s not completely devoid of influence or merit. It’s a bit of a weird period, since the pandemic years have been uneven at best, but steady work counts…

Contrast all of that to the boost that Dakota Johnson gets for similar plays--though she seems to get credit for seeming not to care. Caring about things differently is probably the worst sin.

I’ve always liked the understated way The Wire changed up the intro each season, and contra opinion I guess, I think the Bear overdoes with the needle drops. I don’t think it’s bad, and maybe it’s I’m at the same age as the showrunners or something so I recognize everything, but it feels a bit like too much sugar on…

I know it’s unintentional, but every time I see this still I think it’s a golliwog in the center.

I can accept it as a movie premise, like how Black Mirror starts with one outrageous thing, if what follows is more natural...which is why not knowing about a murder game and accidentally getting involved confuses the hell out of me.

I get a HK/Asian action cinema vibe from it, and I approve.

I first heard of Sydney Sweeney when she talked about how fans didn’t understand how/when actors made money, and even as she was famous she wasn’t that rich, and then fans studied her finances, and both people are right/wrong (though mostly people don’t know how fame translates to money, I certainly don’t).

I thought they were going to play a bit with having Syd’s ambitions (real and maybe a little naive) re-ignite the Carmy’s worst habits before the plunge but I guess not.

See, when you describe it that way Emma Roberts is the type of actor that I think of.

I dunno, after Brexit, crossing the border with live cargo, that might a day. And then driving back!

Honestly, I think a good set of actors with a mediocre AI-generated script will turn out okay sometime, and take some screenwriter jobs, or shift it so the screenwriter gets paid less to just fix it up. I get the gist of the article, and AI-whole cloth generated films are further off, but AI as a category is not…