It’s incredible that, in just the past 3 years, Lenker has given us 6 amazing albums (Capacity, UFOF, Two Hands, abysskiss, and now songs and instrumentals). I cannot recall an artist in recent memory who has been so consistently great. 

I think Jenkins is about as good of an example of that as we can hope for nowadays. Medicine for Melancholy was microbudget, Moonlight was slightly larger budget, and If Beale Street Could Talk had an even larger budget ($12 million), and now this, with a giant budget.

I’ve seen backlash against independent directors for taking big-budget film offers before (most recently Chloe Zhao for the Eternals), but this is the first one that has legitimately disappointed me. I think the director is just so good and the concept for the material so creatively bankrupt that I find it difficult…

With me it’s a reverse effect; I’m more excited to see the next MCU movie (in an actual theater, after a vaccine) than I would have been normally. But I also think this puts a lot of pressure on Black Widow. If the film is mediocre Marvel, that miss will weigh a lot more than it did with something like Captain Marvel…

Surprised they went with Lahela Kameāloha when Emma Stone was right there.

I agree. It’s a rather tiresome watch, but there’s enough good in it to make it worthwhile. I quite enjoyed this write-up, which at least made me appreciate the film on an intellectual level.

Just watched this, thanks to this recommendation. Really liked it; it’s very smart, funny, well-acted, well-shot. It also feels like a genuinely fresh romcom, so it’s something of a unicorn.

I believe you have posted this many times before, really anything spider-man adjacent. I think that is beautiful and your dedication needs more attention.

Ah, some deep cuts of nostalgia here. Malcolm in the Middle and Freaks and Geeks were two of my favorite shows growing up; Freaks & Geeks has actually aged astonishingly well.

It is interesting how many people I know who absolutely love Avatar but have never seen Korra, or who gave up very early on. The original series is better, but Korra expanded the universe in clever ways. Lavabending, flight, improved bloodbending, the city of metalbenders, and the improvements in technology all felt…

Agreed. Almost Famous is above and away my favorite film of the year and probably in my top 3 for the decade. It is a bit disappointing that Cameron Crowe hasn’t come anywhere close to its quality since, nor do I really feel that any of his earlier films are of its caliber.

A great post, the clips from the Rourke and Leon stage productions were divine. I’m somewhat ashamed to say my only live Shakespeare experience was an ultra-minimalist production of Taming of the Shrew, where there were no costumes or sets and I believe only four actors, each of which doubled/tripled/quadrupled up on…

Though I am indeed disappointed by the glaring snubs of Better Call Saul cast members, I was also surprised to see no nominations for Little America, which was one of my favorite shows this year and had several episodes that deserved awards in writing and cinematography. 

It is incredibly un-Bachelor-y, in part because of the structure of the show; it doesn’t really show courtship outside of the first couple of dates the participants have with a successful match. Though, interestingly, all of the participants in the show are now single and none got married through the process, which I…

Watched this show with a friend the weekend it came out and have been surprised to see so much controversy about it. The show isn’t perfect (it really does end quite abruptly) The people in it are flawed and come with their own prejudices, but I really don’t see how the show could have portrayed that without coming…

Reading what Hughes said about how games are a very quick process of learning made me also think that they are a very quick process of empathy. I think the genius of the second half of the game—and something that many, many, many of its detractors missed out on due to sheer stubbornness—is how fast it manages to…

I think the only three podcasts I’ve really listened to this year are Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Hills I’d Die On, and Staying In w/Emily and Kumail. All have been/were great.

This takes us one step closer to my dream of Bisexual Friends, which is just Friends but everyone is bi. 

I mean, yes, what he is doing is legal. But many, many, many people have exploited defamation laws for immoral purposes (see: Donald Trump, Bob Murray). 

Because you’re Justin Bieber. Why would you dedicate time, effort, and energy to getting revenge against someone who, if not telling the truth, is very likely mentally ill and has no money for you to recover? It seems like he had vindicated his public image before filing the lawsuit, so his motive here is either…