2016: when even my favorite YouTube thing, the year-end news blooper compilation, was just OK. The one-two punch of the cannon dick and emergency defecation was great.

I wish Stephen Gaghan came back after 11 years with something better, but then I looked at his IMDB and realized my perception of his track record was flawed - I love Traffic and Syriana, and the rest is mediocre-to-awful.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was going to be my answer. I would fund all the Kickstarters to keep it going if it got cancelled.

And of course, if it turns out to be fake, people will use it as proof that this NEVER EVER HAPPENS BECAUSE ONE TIME IT WAS FAKE, and we'll all think this guy is a douche. Wait, we already thought that, because prank video people are the worst.

I think they're generally more fun/special amongst friends and family, because even though it's random, you still have an idea of things everyone likes, and it makes it less competitive - "I know that three people in this group love Fireball, so I'm getting a fifth of that."

The article pays passing mention to it, but every white elephant I've participated in had a cap on gift value (I think the most was $25), and most of the time it's, like, candy, or a bottle of booze, so that throws the whole "average value" part of the equation out the window.

It's a period piece, which involves more work in the way of set decoration, costuming, etc. And there were a couple of action scenes. $50 million sounds about right.

I'm honestly surprised Jim Gaffigan hadn't already appeared on this show. He's from Indiana, but his look screams Minnesota.

To echo this, I usually feel like acting is the last thing to go wrong in a bad movie, which is interesting, because as you noted, it's also the most prominent thing in most movies.

A sequel people actually wanted, in a story world worth further exploration, less than 5 years after the original, and it looks just as good? What is this?

The runtime suggests a similar level of executive meddling. But Jonah Hex at least had the courtesy to be completely bonkers and really short (72 minutes without credits!). This just looks dour.

They clean up overseas and probably pay really well.

When David Wain did his Most Mediocre Movies Of The 2000s list, a commenter (Brad Hoene) did a checklist for mediocrity that I saved because I thought it summed it up well:

I think a more interesting, albeit entirely subjective, argument to be had is, what's worse; a mediocrity or a godawful piece of shit?

I see Goldie Hawn is going the Jane Fonda route, returning from a 15-year hiatus to star in a terrible comedy. Hopefully she continues down that route and gets a solid TV role.

"Take Me Home Tonight sat on the shelf for four years. It should have sat there longer."

*LUDICROUSLY OVERBLOWN ORGAN MUSIC*

The Butler (sorry, Lee Daniels's The Butler) is a Forrest Gump retelling, with Forest Whitaker in the Gump role and David Oyelowo as Jenny. About midway through the movie, a scene begins with Oyelowo walking down the street with his counterculture girlfriend, and he says, "I'm not so sure about that Malcolm X."

Idris Elba had voiceover roles in three Disney movies this year. Wonder how old his kid is getting/what the new house looks like?

I love that The Net's terrifying thriller plot is basic identity theft.