Just chiming in to say that this is an extremely thoughtful, well-written piece. Even having not watched the movie since I was...what, 11?...I found it a total joy to follow along.

I don’t think “anyone with a hint of film taste” would say Joker is “terrible.” I find that’s a much more Extremely Online take than it is a consensus among otherwise avid filmgoers IRL. I saw it at TIFF in a theatre packed with folks who were generally seeing quite well-regarded films, and the vibe leaving the…

Watching the scene of Celeste putting on make-up in the morning, I felt a tiny sense of what Andrea Arnold’s cut of this season might have looked like. Intimate, tender, curious — drawn-out moments of reprieve as palate cleanser to S1’s intensity. Imagine the melodrama happening in the background, and subtle character…

I went to an event at a speakeasy last weekend featuring PFT and John Hodgman. It only took about 20 minutes for Ayn Rand to show up, and it was glorious.

Pretty sure I wouldn’t call his often-wordless supporting role in The Deuce a “breakout turn”...

(Still, as one of those predictable bastards who puts The Sopranos #1 in his list of TV shows, I’m wishing him all the best!)

Maybe purely based on concept I’d agree, but I think Caroline does quite a good job of giving more depth to this article than your typical “Let’s re-examine whether X movie is actually as bad as people say it was” premise. Particularly this bit of summation, which I found really neat / persuasive:

[Removed because I woefully misread which Lannister the article referred to]

I had a lot of trouble getting into this one. Its heart was in the right place, but it suffered from something that I feel some 90% of films of this manner suffer from: it doesn’t have a clue how religion works in practice. It was like Akhavan wanted so badly to telegraph the innate wrongness of the camp, she glossed…

Thanks for this write-up, Kyle. I’ve also been running through lyrics today, and finding so many things to both despair and hope in. I mourn the loss of Scott, but I don’t think the tragic ending to his battle with depression does anything to lessen the beauty of his message: we’re all fucked, but it’s okay.

Don’t forget the Emma Stone, capable of changing ethnicities at will

I see your point, but at the same time, virtually every celebrity obituary (see: “R.I.P. Milos Forman, Oscar-winning director of Amadeus and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”) includes the name of their most famous work. That might be clickbait, but I think it’s more intended to give quick context — not necessarily to…

Of all the bewildering aspects of Geostorm (and there are many: where the hell did the daughter subplot go? who conceived of that god-awful Ed Helms monologue? in what time of year is it both snowing in Moscow, sunny in Brazil, and Democratic National Convention time in the US?) the craziest, to me, is the sheer lack…

I’m very interested to see Andrea Arnold’s take on this material. From Fish Tank and American Honey, she’s shown to be extremely good at elevating typically “white trash”-y material — finding beauty in inelegance. It strikes me that Big Little Lies is almost the polar opposite, finding ugliness lurking in elegance.

I think you might be mistaking “is connected to” for “caused”. He’s saying whatever bummed him out enough to not want to see the film, also bummed him out enough to stop working.

[Spoilers for the last Fantastic Beasts movie]

I felt the same. It was only days after watching the film (in IMAX no less) that I even learned it was a thing.

Has any organization had a more ironic name than Project Veritas?

I think if you listen to the monologue, in context this makes a lot more sense. He’s addressing the gut reaction many men might have, of wondering “Why didn’t this come out sooner? Why didn’t they run away? Why didn’t they ____?” I think that impulse, of projecting your own privilege on victims rather than truly…

If you listen to his statement, I don’t think he’d disagree with you. His statement about empathy was _not_ about how to avoid masturbating in front of women. It was chiding men who say “It was a long time ago, it wasn’t rape, why didn’t they say something sooner.” He is saying to empathize with the plight of the…

Seems like a solid stance to take. For those who seem incredulous — this isn’t about Disney “quaking”, it’s about refusing to take advantage of an unfair punishment they’ve handed a different publication. Trying to limit the (intended) disincentive to publish anti-Disney pieces.