This David Brooks column was being passed around online, so I decided to read it in order to figure out what all the fuss was about. It's a real whirlwind. During the first half of the op-ed, Brooks makes a lot of sense. We have in fact put too many roadblocks in the way of people trying to become economically mobile.…

It's kind of hilarious that most American's image of the British are the prim and proper upper crust.

Yeah, I don't know if they're spoiling future installments as much as they're, you know, advertising their animated movies.

It's kind of sad when a $175 million summer blockbuster is shown up by an animated film released direct to video.

He was one of only a handful of actors on True Blood who understood the tone of the show, something that the writers and showrunners often struggled with. He was fun, campy and a total blast to watch. He made a really uneven show much better. It's a shame his life and career was cut so incredibly short.

I liked the first season, but I think season two was even better.

Whenever we get a TV show directed by an actual film director (Young Pope, The Knick, and Twin Peak), it always drives home for me that television is still, for the most part, visually far behind cinema. The Knick was a great looking show that made wonderful use of some extreme angles and the breaking of the 180…

The most offensive thing about Bill Maher is how lazy his jokes are.

Maybe he'll go the George Foreman route.

Yeah, Rocky III basically asks us to root for Rocky simply because his name is in the title. I actually wouldn't mind seeing Clubber Lang return in Creed 2. What's Mr. T up to these days?

One of my favorite parts of Rocky IV is that Drago is a villain because he resorts to using steroids while Rocky trains using old fashioned equipment and grit. Meanwhile, in the real world, Stallone's body is a walking laboratory.

He has a cameo where he explains how MLK solved racism once and for all. It's kind of a weird detour for the film.

Finally.

Smokey and the Bandit, obviously.

So I noticed in the new Wish Upon trailer (which has been popping up every time I go to the theater) that they gave the main character an Asian friend. It's as if they are trying to say, "Sure our film deals in time worn Orientalist tropes of the mystical East, but don't worry, some of my best friends…"

I'm not certain where he got the reputation as a good actor because he sucks. When he tries to play quirky he just ends up being creepy. He was terrible in the first Fantastic Beasts.

Truly this will go down with Washington's "Farewell Address," Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address," and FDR's "Pearl Harbor Speech" in the pantheon of presidential rhetoric.

On Friday, I watched The Lego Batman Movie, which is apparently different from Lego Batman: The Movie, a direct to video CGI Lego Batman feature. (I accidentally got the latter from Netflix DVD a few weeks ago). Anyways, The Lego Batman Movie is a joyful love letter to Batman in all of his incarnations. Batman is my…

All art is collaborative on some level, and that's especially true of films. But even still, just this weekend we've seen the release of Baby Driver and Okja, two films that bear the unmistakable mark of their directors. Only Edgar Wright and Joon-ho Boon, respectively, could have made those movies. And I love it when…

Sure, but there's this thing called the auteur theory that holds that certain directors can push against the cynical money making system and apply their artistic vision on the film.