For the record: I am not invited to festivals. I have seen neither movie, though I am likely to see them eventually. I just have this crazy idea that you shouldn’t go apeshit on someone because your movie came in second.
Amateur movie critic, amateur fantasy novel writer, amateur history buff, pretty much amateur everything. For nuanced and informative takes on gaming and movies, go to Roger Ebert's old site. For dumb shit, click here: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/
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For the record: I am not invited to festivals. I have seen neither movie, though I am likely to see them eventually. I just have this crazy idea that you shouldn’t go apeshit on someone because your movie came in second.
You should check out the Twitter reactions to this. In three minutes I’ve seen two “Alexander Payne is going to hell” and one “Alexander Payne is a demon”. Classifying a man as evil bc he didn’t pick your movie is a hell of a way to prove you should be taken seriously. variety.com/2025/film/fe...
If I had an Onlyfans, this is the kind of shit I would try and manipulate my clients into buying for me.
So basically she’s her actual character from Election.
Reese Witherspoon is worth $440 million. She could use her vast resources to stand up for all the real artists and craftsman who have made it possible for her to play pretend to such a lucrative degree. Instead she’s using it to shit all over them. variety.com/2025/film/ne...
I swore off making comics years ago, as the politics and resources you need to deal with to get a project off the ground are just completely off-balance compared to the potential rewards. However, I’ve been percolating a story so incredibly bonkers that only comics or cartoons could contain it.
Here’s a Missouri senator just outright saying, loud, proud and publicly, that America is only for white people. Don’t labor under the delusion that this is the fringe. It may fly under the radar now, but more and more MAGA will slowly adopt it until it becomes de facto platform.
I’m not a huge tabletop gamer, but every time I visit a shop, I am struck by the sheer variety of choices and the passion that goes into them, all the more impressive considering the lopsided risk to reward ratio. I love that so many people are so committed to strengthening our gaming culture.
It really is that easy. “If I had a hard job and people treated me the way I am treating this server, how would I feel about it?” is a very revealing question one can ask oneself.
“People are too complex to be easily judged” is usually not true. You can tell almost everything you really need to know about a person by how they treat “the help”. If you can’t be arsed to show those who serve you the same respect you demand for yourself, you’re an ass 99% of the time.
Meanwhile, the devil has resurrected the souls of villains ALREADY in hell to serve as his best supervillain agents. John Wilkes Booth vs the Bikini Assassins of Undead Charles Manson.
A Vincent Price tribute is virtually guaranteed.
Hear me out: angels kidnap notorious villains and assholes from the timeline just before their deaths and inform them they are going to hell. The only way for them to avoid this is to fight in a war on earth by the devil and his alien allies. In the future.
Four years ago, mom told them they couldn’t have dessert before supper, and they’ve never gotten over it.
I scrolled by The Bird Site to see how MAHA was reacting to the CDC upheavals, and I don’t for one second believe their insanely over-the-top rhetoric is even pretending to be from a place of concern. They’re pissed that someone might tell them what to do. That’s it. They’re angry five year olds.
Yes, I looked it up and I know that was 2014. Yes, I know that was a long time ago. But I kept hearing about her genius, so I listened to the two albums that sounded appealing, and now I can’t find that spark anywhere else. Cruel Summer is a bit better, but still could have been done by most anyone.
I’ve heard about five or six Taylor Swift songs that are NOT off Folklore or Evermore, and every one of them is…well, not in my wheelhouse, let’s say that. How can the same person out here singing The Last Great American Dynasty have also done insipid-yet-bog-standard pop shit like Shake it Off?
The best custard of all time belongs to a little booth with no indoor seating that’s always so crowded your back is to the road. I recently had my new favorite pizza, and I had it at a brewery with a truly horrible cover singer and thrift store decor.
Why do food critics make a big deal out of the restaurant? Health is one thing, but I couldn’t care less if the space is done up in authentic 19th century Louis Vuitton paneling with a touch of whimsy. Most of the best food I have ever had has been in the most casual settings.
I would love this, but I’m worried that the anti-trans rhetoric is still successful with swing voters who don’t read past the headlines. I know people in my life as liberal as they come who I’ve had to correct on many of the related issues, and it’s even harder with ones who don’t want to listen.
The fact is left wing populists do not beat right wing populists, because the right runs on pure hate, the kind of hate needed to sustain a populist. When the time comes, I will probably turn out to support Pritzker. I will however be shocked and overjoyed if he actually wins.
He’s going to win the 2028 nomination because he looks good and performs well. Walz and Pritzker are fighters, but they don’t have the look or the performative sheen politics requires. Only Trump broke that mold, and that’s because he promised all the racism you can eat. I’m not saying this is good.
And, as with every time The Boss is in the news, it’s great to see MAGAs who were too illiterate to actually understand the words to Born in the U.S.A. go nuclear because Springsteen “betrayed” them.
This may be more valuable as an unpolished historical artifact than as an entertaining song, but it’s still awesome to hear a “new” old Springsteen track for the first time. m.youtube.com/watch?v=RRT8...
This sentence could just read “never underestimate how shallow people are” and stop there and it would be just as true. I’ll never understand how someone as visually unappealing as Trump became a figure of cult worship. That just doesn’t happen in today’s culture.
You're all gonna burn in hell I said we're all gonna burn in hell 'Cause we do what we gotta do real well And we've got the fever to tell I said we've got the fever to tell
Oh, and the bottom of the well in Ocarina of Time was a legit horror show, but for some reason that and the Shadow Temple unsettled me in a different way. I think that might be where my lifelong fascination with the underworld was born.
I can’t remember because I didn’t play it, but there was a game in a magazine where if you went the wrong way bizarre things would happen, including body horror and gore. I kept going back to that feature like a moth to a flame, but never played the game. First game I played: Eternal Darkness.
That is also my usual. If you like Honey Nut Cheerios, you’ll probably like Oh’s.
You’ve never had Oh’s? I cannot recommend enough that you do so. I like to get weird and put chocolate milk on them (of course, I do that with most cereals…)
It’s definitely in the upper echelon of cereal, along with these:
You should turn this into a thread on kid-focused foods that still hold up. I’ll get things rolling.
I’ll grab some when I can, then. If I don’t eat them, I have family who will. P.S. also tried Snickerdoodle Twix and Raspberry Blood Orange Sunkist today. Couldn’t tell the difference on the Twix and the Sunkist was WAY too sweet (130% sugar in one bottle).
Even though he is accused of the same things Trump was, they think it was fine when they did it. Yet again: they do not believe that he can commit crimes, and they do not believe that their enemies could ever be innocent. We aren’t on the way to fascism. We’ve arrived.
MAGA is overjoyed that Trump is using the DOJ to exert political revenge on John Bolton. They do not care if he is guilty under any actual law. If they have to break the law or make a new one to get their enemies, they will. Scroll by the bird site. They are terrifyingly transparent about this.
Has anyone tried these Oreos and are they any good? My problem with things like this is I really want to know, but if I don’t like them I just wasted a whole package. I wish they sold them in those six-cookie sleeves.
The same people who call anyone who disagrees with MAGA a traitorous liar are about to take the word, without question, of a convicted child sex trafficker. As I said last night: in the reality they’ve built, it is not possible for any MAGA to ever commit a wrong.
I don’t know much about McDonald’s, I never eat there, but I like the term Fraudumentary.
What happened with McDonald’s?
There is absolutely no way any sane, intelligent person can look at this totally inert thing and say it is “woke”, whatever that means. Therefore, these people are either insane, stupid, or running another faux-culture war grift to keep fleecing their followers. I’m going with C.
It’s very clear that MAGA doesn’t think anything can be immoral, unethical or illegal if MAGA does it. That’s the only standard. The left is always guilty of something, while the right is never guilty of anything, due process be damned. thehill.com/homenews/adm...
They’re trying to tell me the plot and stuff, and I’m just like: shut up. You had me at Day-Lewis. variety.com/2025/film/ne...
James Dobson has died, leaving behind a legacy of hatred and pain. If there is an afterlife, he’s meeting with his fellow monster Rush Limbaugh and other faux-conservative hate merchants as we speak.
“Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed as much on a quarterly earnings call this month, saying his film group won’t favor existing IP over original material. The priority, Iger said, ‘is to put out great movies.’” Nobody believes that Bob Iger is concerned about quality. variety.com/2025/film/ne...
I think this showed up on Switch Online, and I think I tried it. If I had played it in the 90s, I probably wouldn’t have shut up about it.
One more fun fact: Michael Giacchino, the composer for several MCU films, worked on this game. The soundtrack is a banger, too.
I probably wouldn’t have the patience to deal with some of the iffy controls today, but if they ironed out the kinks, I think a remake could do well. Of course, since Disney is now intent on hiding their weirder 90s experiments, we’ll never know. PS. Justice for The Runaway Brain!
Technically, they removed Donald’s name from the official release, but it had already been marketed that way, so I at least still viewed it as Donald playing a role. And it just felt like Donald, right down to the “WAAAAAAAK!” when he took damage.
I’ll pick something everyone else hasn’t already said. This was an odd thing. Donald was “playing” a Magnum PI spoof who could also turn into a ninja. This was a time before Disney was so protective with IP, and strange things could happen. I think Maui dies and goes to voodoo heaven at the end.
False advertising. You do NOT ride on air. You actually ride on top of objects. No sale. www.polygon.com/kirby-air-ri...
I still remember reading the actual comic and being surprised at the scene where he and Thorn bathe in a stream.
The Target CEO is stepping down, and right wingers are accusing the left of bullying the poor multi-billion dollar business over their DEI rollback. Classic right. When they storm the capitol and try to overturn an election, it’s a protest. When the left performs a peaceful boycott, it’s bullying.
I preferred Fantastic Four simply because I’m way more of a fan of the team, but I liked Superman almost as much, and more than I expected to. That’s something given I have no nostalgia for the Reeves movies. The final scene was beautiful, and I’ve now probably listened to Punkrocker a dozen times.
“Before a photographer could snap pictures, he pulled a copy of Mein Kampf from a bookshelf and turned it around to hide its spine.” The only thing surprising in that sentence is that he tried to hide it.
Quote from Trump about very fine people in 3…2… www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/r...
He couldn’t care less what museums show. He’s never been to a museum. He’s doing this to prove he can do anything and get away with it.
"President Trump will explore all options and avenues to get the Woke out of the Smithsonian and hold them accountable. He will start with the Smithsonian and then go from there." The worst part is he doesn’t give a single shit about any of this. It’s just about power. www.npr.org/2025/08/19/n...
I only knew about it because I’m always over at Ebert and it got four stars over there. I’m wondering if Angel had no faith (pun intended) in it because it’s so far out of their normal wheelhouse.
Man, if all all-ages* entertainment were as thoughtful and creative as Sketch, the world of film would be a better place. Unlike the trend-chasing corporate product kids are often spoon fed, it goes with sincerity and heart and wins big. An easy 4/4. *might be frightening for younger children.
Yet calling an early recess in Congress to avoid dealing with the fact their Very Special Boy is in the Epstein Files is perfectly legit.
In my experience, the more awful a person’s views, the less of an excuse they need to share them. There’s probably all sorts of psychology there I’m not quite smart enough to understand.
Today I saw the most demanding dating profile I’ve ever seen. Money, looks, time, gifts…and nothing in the way of a bio. For all you know, in return for all that you could be getting an absolute train wreck. If dating sites are a form of business (they are), don’t you need something to sell?
That is a person who secretly hates themselves deeply.
Their suppression efforts are going to succeed, aren’t they? We’re looking at a GOP monarchy for the foreseeable future, aren’t we? I’m not trying to be Mr. Doom. I just don’t see a way out. Dems aren’t willing to break the system over their knee the way Rs are. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
I’m watching The Food That Built America, and it blows my mind that so many of the things we now see as disposable junk were once considered innovative luxuries for the masses. I’m pretty sure I never before gave a single stray thought to how important Milky Ways once were.
Depends on their environment and the media they consume. My own relatives will support him as long as the LGBT and immigrants exist.
Bad crime=good ratings. They’ve decided to cooperate with the lie for their own benefit.
What’s the wildest opinion shift MAGA and the GOP have engaged with to please their Very Special Boy? For me it has to be the appeasement of Russia. The Better Dead Than Red crowd has “evolved” into supporting a former KGB dictator’s illegal land grab. What’s yours?
I have actually liked a lot of their post-Endgame output, but with the exception of FF, the multi-verse keeps getting in the way of unreservedly recommending it. The only MCU project where it worked with no notes was the first season of Loki.
Just give us a street level gang war storyline without trying to layer on a massive dollop of Doomsday. Fantastic Four proved your best movies are the least interconnected.
The new Spider-Man movie’s director promises to have multi-versal hijinks. The MCU promising more multi-verse at this point is like a butt promising more poop: we already knew it was coming and we already knew we didn’t want it.
What I want to know are the top 15 MOST attractive hobbies, though based on my experiences I think I can make some pretty good guesses. Bench pressing the tree you just lumberjacked, maybe?
If Obama officials had left so much as a Do Not Disturb sign on a public printer, Fox would have their talking points ready for months in advance. Trump staffers leave an entire itinerary, including specific locations of meetings, and I bet Fox won’t even mention it. www.npr.org/2025/08/16/n...
I want to put all of my books into a very large bin, where I will dive through them like a porpoise, burrow through them like a gopher, and toss them up and let them hit me on the head. I want enough books to use as a staircase to infinity. I want more books than one man can read in a lifetime.
Please, world, stop recommending that I get my "books" digitally. I know how to purchase things. I know what my options are. If I wanted to use my puny phone screen to read things I don't actually own, I would do that. I don't want to do that, though. I want to read books I can hold in my hands.
This is an embarrassing headline, even by NYT standards, when anyone with a modicum of experience with sociopaths can tell Trump is one.
I just had a body horror dream involving old neighbors, the Clintons, and a close friend recast as a head with crab feet scuttling around vomiting up rocks and lava, and it wasn’t even the worst nightmare I’ve had tonight. I have had nothing to drink. I am on no drugs. My subconscious just hates me.
I like how he throws a little bit of casual ableism in there while he’s at it. Go big or go home, I guess.
Also, the government extorting money from private businesses sounds an awful lot like socialism, MAGA. I thought you were against that.
I’m actually half-rooting for the regime here, not because I think this is good per se, but because these business leaders openly supported an authoritarian campaign in hopes of de-regulations and tax cuts, and they ought to get wrecked along with the rest of us. www.npr.org/2025/08/14/n...
3,155 words today. I was worried it would just end up being more Tolkien-lite “and then they walked some more”, but I managed instead to deepen my lore a bit and provide a quick backstory for a character who I threw into the adventure at the last minute. Yay for me.
After having stared at my screen for 20 minutes, I have changed the words “a bit” to “a little”. That’s probably enough exertion for today.
Constant content is not the answer here. We need new movies to feel like events, not just iterations in a corporate plan to dominate the competition.
I don’t know how I feel about Peacemaker setting up the future of the DCU, especially when Superman failed to capture the all-important Chinese box office. It feels like Marvel’s mistake: forcing people to do TV homework in order to understand a movie. We saw how well that worked for the MCU.
“History without discomfort is propaganda.” www.npr.org/2025/08/12/n...
The really interesting thing about Trump taking over D.C. while trashing successful black leaders is that the President of the United States is in the Epstein Files.
They are startlingly, almost refreshingly frank about this.
If you wondered how Pete Hegseth low-key advocating for overturning women’s suffrage didn’t draw greater condemnation, all you have to do is visit The Bird Place to find out that most of MAGA agrees with him. They think the only votes allowable should be ones likely to go to their candidates.
We can, however, point out her willingness to conceive two kids with her future third husband while still married to her first husband, all while bitching about the sanctity of marriage.
“You can tell my lips, or you can tell my hips, that you're going to dump me if you can; But don't tell my liver, it never would forgive her, it might blow up and circumcize this man!''
“They've warned that a single lawsuit raised by three authors over Anthropic's AI training now threatens to "financially ruin" the entire AI industry…” If your entire fake ass industry is ruined by one lawsuit, maybe your industry deserves to die. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...
This looks funny, but I mean it earnestly.
I don’t know enough about Parton or Jackson to say, but Strait is just a crooner, not an artist. Brooks at least had a hand in writing SOME of his songs.
I’m standing my ground. I didn’t cry all the time over that song when I was young, and I absolutely do not get sad whenever I hear it now. Not me. Also, I guess I always thought it was about a man whose dance partner died young, possibly from cancer, but apparently I made that up.
Since you brought up Brooks, and since we’re talking about good songs now, I want to take a moment to point out that The Dance sucks and it never, ever makes me cry whenever it comes on the radio.
If you’re going to subject someone to religious hokum, it needs to at least be good religious hokum. The way I see it, if a religious song isn’t at least as good as Amazing Grace, why did you even bother writing it?
I just went and read the lyrics. Now I’m crying for all the wrong reasons.
I feel that way about so many songs, but the one that jumps out at me is Billy Joel’s My Life. It sounds okay, probably, but it makes me want to fuck my own skull with a toilet brush.
If it makes you feel any better, I had to look up the song to get a lyric to taunt you with.