Agree. I’ve actually been reading a bunch of recent fantasy books and a happy surprise for me was that most of them had LGBT (or at least L&G) leaders (monarchs, governors, etc) baked into the setting. Like it’s just a given that the Monarch and their same sex spouse will just adopt a child to be next in line for the…

It doesn’t help that all of those socially maladjusted weirdos keep bleating about how “realistic” this world is, mostly because it’s darker and edgier than other fantasy worlds.

Idk, maybe I’m just sick of all this. It’s supposed to be Mature Fantasy for Grown-Ups but no matter how much of a cultural phenomenon it’s become it all feels like something made for the least socially adjusted guy in your high school’s D&D club.

What makes Knives Out work is that the actual protagonist is Ana de Armas’ character.

Lyonne is one of the only two people who could pull off Columbo. The other, Mark Ruffalo.

Emily Heller has clearly been watching far too much “Are You Being Served”, she’s stolen Mrs Slocombe’s look.

“Hello Peter Parker” doesn’t get enough credit, because it’s dropped right in the middle of that scene, but it’s a really big note to hit for such a small interaction. She sees how much Pete is struggling to hold it together there and immediately falls into big sister mode. She’s amused at the introduction but is…

She had me with running around a spaceship barefoot and puffing her hair out of her face. She had me again later with “Hello Peter Parker.” It’s a physical performance. She’s “The Girl who Stood with Clenched Fists ... and likes to punch things.” I can still dig it.

I think her portrayal is fine, perfectly in line with Chris Hemsworth in Thor or Zoe Saldana in GotG. I like those performances well enough, just like I like Larson as Captain Marvel. It’s not groundbreaking, and it’s not worth a fraction of the criticism she’s gotten. But those actors have had time to grow into great…

Ah, so they kept the accent from the first one. I remember Johnson once saying on Twitter that he was considering giving Blanc a terrible new accent for each new film, and never explaining what that was about.

I don’t disagree with the Stephen Root sentiment, but I think too many people look at Knives Out (and its upcoming sequels) as serious, realistic, grounded murder mysteries. The whole point of this series seems to be to take the murder mystery genre and turn it on its head, making it outlandish, comical and almost…

Can someone please explain the appeal of this universe to me? Is the story all that interesting? Is the acting really good? How is any of this appealing to a mass audience? Just seems strange to me. No offense meant to fans, I sincerely want to know what I'm missing here. 

All other issues aside, Paramount+ has the motto “Peak Streaming,” which, okay, clever.

Perhaps that’s why Rian Johnson will never disavow his contribution to the Star Wars universe: “I’m even more proud of it five years on. When I was up at bat, I really swung at the ball,” he tells Empire magazine.

Holdo is actually fine at her job--why would she tell a soldier who recently disobeyed orders anything--and the fact that people miss this is one of the biggest reasons why TLJ is dumb.

Let’s not pretend that’s entirely China.  China fucking loves the Fast & The Furious Franchise, and they don’t cut Tej out of the marketing.  Boyega was done dirty for American racists too.

Right?? Dude is like “what if characters changed and grew in different ways?”

If 9 had stuck the landing and followed through on everything he set up in 8, we would be having very different conversations about the movie now.  The fact that they completely tailored 9 to appease all the toxic fanbois on the Internet and negate everything about 8 just ruined everything about the trilogy. (that and…

The movie’s not perfect, but it was literally breathtaking for me since, for the first time since Empire Strikes Back, I had no idea where any individual scene or the overall movie was going. After decades of predictable storytelling, Johnson flipped over the table and did new and exciting stuff.

Rian Johnson did for Star Wars what peanut butter did for sandwiches. Some folks may not like it, and nobody wants it all of the time, but no reasonable sandwich connoisseur can deny its extraordinary and timeless contribution to the art of sandwiches.