He’s promoting his book so he’s making interview rounds. It’s a normal press cycle.

I figured the list would be more expansive disease gone wrong movies, but some of these choices feel quite arbitrary. Locke is a 2-hour drive, not a year long space trip or something.

Eh, I thought the Cuomo-worship was a bad idea and kinda gross, but the first article was joking about it.

The second one was a joke--as in not serious about it. Not so much a whoops.

I think some caution is merited about the way people bandy about jargon that describes specific cultural things like depiction, but that a episode based on source material from a period of much greater allowance for racist stereotypes came off poorly is not an occasion for caution, especially when the speaker is one…

PR-worthiness of the jibe aside, I think it would interesting to take a dive into the financial models of these companies, or maybe one for the different kinds of games. I’m guessing, but having a successful mmo may pay for that project and give a company cash flow for delays with less stress. And their game doesn’t…

I honestly think FC4 did the best since the second one in the series and had some kind of, well, not balance, but consideration regarding it’s constant use of exotic foreigners. That said, some diversity in the staff beyond gender could inject some thoughtfulness into all aspects of their projects.

Yeah, I figured as much. I actually expected them to go further and expected them to be seeding finds.

Why would I wonder about scripted shows? I’m commenting on the need to create a facade of “reality” to this kind of show. The obvious answer is the show you described, or basically Antiques Roadshow. I not wondering how can we preserve this dynamic—it’s what wears me out seeing something interesting and hearing a…

PBS had something like this for a bit called Market Warriors that involved flea markets and buying for auctions. I assume PBS’s tilt toward not actually scripting results (and shooting during the great recession) meant they couldn’t/didn’t sugarcoat the fact that by and large the experts failed to make money almost…

I can generally enjoy these shows (or lately, car shows) for a little while before the “lucky” finds start wearing a bit thin, if the personalities are alright, and American pickers was generally alright. But I also find this confession a little bit off-putting because it’s also a “everything was a lie” confession.…

I don’t know that is so nuanced, though—I think the culture and events to be translated as selected shows the film’s preferences beyond the characters. It’s been a long time, but I’ve always been struck by what’s funny and what’s not. It’s underratedly funny, I think, but also has mean streak in it’s humor. The butt…

Been meaning to check it out. I watched Cathy Yan’s first movie, Dead Pigs, and it’s a fun dark comedy and interesting for it’s the tightrope it walks--political and bleak but also restrained, being filmed in China and all.

I haven’t watched Birds of Prey, but Winstead’s physicality was the best thing I got out of Gemini Man, so I’m all for this.

I agree with you wholeheartedly re: Tarantino. I find I can still enjoy them, because many of his loves are my loves, but it’s also not without misgivings let alone his attitude/persona regarding his work. It’s not a surprise that I like Jackie Brown the most, since it’s less his baby than his other babies.

I don’t know if these are underrated, but Babe: Pig in the City and Road Warrior—which I remember watching in college as a George Miller double-bill, are both great sequels that swerve from their origins enough to make them different things.

By reductive I mean Cobain wasn’t just a depressive burnout and she’s not just immense privilege. I’ve come round to thinking there is some privilege there—if unconnected parents is a sign of lacking it then a sibling who is in the industry is a sign of it. “Immense”, eh, luck or privilege can get you the limelight…

This back and forth seems needlessly reductive and prefer not to feed a competition that doesn’t need to be—Billie Eilish might be calling out fans because fan interaction has changed in nearly 30 years—but I just going to take this opportunity to post this link:

They can’t say the F-word? This thing is unwatchable because of that alone.

I’m glad to see them producing games with some swerves, even if they don’t always land with me. Is there any info available about their financial health? The movies end of the business, which seems philosophically of the same bent, has flirted with bankruptcy since it’s got critical hits but not necessarily commercial…