FisterRoboto

I can't find it now (for some reason, my TL cuts off in Feb of last year), but I definitely tweeted after the Streets of Fire ep that if we ever needed a June replacement because she was unavailable for an extended period of time, it should be Jessica St Clair. So what I'm saying is, I made this happen.

Or Mulaney/Kroll. They KILLED at the Spirit Awards this year (and they'll be back next year).

Yeah, McFarland was probably the worst in recent memory. That "We Saw Your Boobs" song was creepy AF, and I can't believe there wasn't more backlash because of it. I thought Kimmel was also pretty terrible last year. His jokes that pretty much just boiled down to "lol black people have funny names" were fucking awful. I can't believer they're having him back this year. At least maybe he'll have the sense to not lean on human trash can Matt Damon this year.

I'm so glad everyone here is on the Hathaway train...which ended up derailng this whole thread. Soooooo sorry about that?

It's not on HBO Was it earlier, and I just missed it? I really don't want to pay money to see this trash because Luc Besson is gross. That's funny. If I skip anything, it's often the pre-game section. I love the games, but sometimes the rambling intros (and Doug's really bad movie opinions) just wear on for me. Especially if there's a terrible, self-indulgent, contrarian-to-be-edgy guest (cough fucking Sirof cough). And the first half of that Heche/Turkel/Oh episode is awful, but the second half turned out to be a total delight. I like when he gets people from the audience to play and the people are chill about it and turn out to be fun to listen to. There was one recently where the guy was up there doing a bunch of shameless self-promotion for his wrestling announcing or whatever and trying to be too jokey and just being all-around irritating.

Pee Cast Blast was a thing with a bunch of Earwolf podcasts. Scott's been talking about it on CBB for a while, and I'm pretty sure the ads have been on HDTGM (they've definitely been on the other Earwolf podcasts I listen to, but I can't remember if they've specifically been on HDTGM). Personally, I see this as a bonus episode, and since it's not really replacing a normal episode or anything, it just seems like a bonus to subscribers. I think it would be cool if they sold the episode for, like, a dollar or two so that people who don't subscribe could listen. But otherwise, I don't see at as any different than when other podcasts do special pay episodes

I'm so fucking mad I didn't see this joke coming before I clicked (it's a good one, though). I think she's great throughout. Both of her scenes with Ben Mendelsohn are awesome. But I especially love the bar scene with the fingerprints.

I love The Dark Knight Rises, even though I know all its flaws. And Hathaway is one of the best parts of that movie. That early scene where she steals from Bruce is one of my favorite intros in the trilogy.

Honestly, I think it was because she's a "Theater Girl" who was really just excited to be doing what she was doing, and people wanted to read into that as some kind of affectation.

He's just kind of a douchey dude. Nothing that's like, "Oh, I can't watch his movies anymore" (at least not that I've heard) Also...I unashamedly have loved Anne Hathaway for years, and I never understood why everyone hated her so much.

YOU MEAN SHITSTAIN?! I want him in everything!

So, I kind of disagree about the second half being a letdown. I really never got tired of the synched up action sequences. The "Tequila" shootout and the "Intermission/Hocus Pocus" chase were both really excellent. The whole time I was watching those, I was like, "Man, this is done so perfectly, but it's going to suck when some hacky director tries to rip this off and does it nowhere near as well." My two problems with the movie (other than the aforementioned lack of characterization for either of the women): 1. The "Harlem Shuffle" sequence just doesn't work for me at all. It's supposed to be this cool, long shot where everything syncs up, but it ends up feeling like they wanted a dance number and instead came up with this thing instead. Tonally, it's a major shift from the rest of the movie, and it just really jerks me out of the film every time I watch it. 2. Wright clearly thinks a lot of his snappier dialogue is much more clever than it really is. For example, that whole sequence with The Butcher (who I only just now realized is not, in fact, Toby Jones) where he goes over the "cuts of meat" is just terrible. It reminds me of when people would watch really great indie crime movies in the late 90s and then try to match those movies' style and came up with some complete garbage (*cough* Boondock Saints *cough*). A lot of Spacey's lines are equally terrible, and it doesn't help that he delivers them in that really flat manner. Other than that, though, I really enjoy this movie. I think one of the best things Wright did was to have Elgort speak as little as possible. Anna Silman wrote a really great review when the movie came out about how letting Elgort speak only when absolutely necessary is probably the #1 thing that makes this movie work. And then there's Jamie Foxx. Personally, I fucking LOVE his performance in this movie. Yes, he's over-the-top bad, but that's also in keeping with the throwback vibe. In the 70s movies that inspired Baby Driver, it's always the strong, silent hero against mega-evil villain. Now, part of the reason that doesn't work all that well anymore is because our tastes have changed. We like to see more complex characters and sense out some redeemable traits in our villains. Where I think the movie stumbles is that they made Spacey the one with the somewhat redeemable characteristics and Foxx as just a pure monster (side note: I rewatched Heat recently, and I thought about Foxx's performance quite a bit in comparison to Waingro). Anyway, I'm pretty much all on board for Foxx in this.

I really liked that movie, and then the final act was such a letdown that it almost ruined the whole thing for me. I LOVE McDormand, and she's perfect for the role; I just wish everything after a certain event happened had been different.

That's because she doesn't have a character. I go back and forrh on how much this affects the movie for me. Because what Wright was going for was an homage to sort of "strong, silent" male lead and the women who live them without any real reason. He cited Walter Hill as a big influence during the press tour, and it's not hard to see the influence of movies like The Driver and The Getaway on this movie. But as much as I love a good throwback, it feels a little gross to make a movie where every character except the two women get some sort of character development/arc.

When Paul introduces me for half a second before going on a tangent about meeting someone else from the forums...

I just learned how Best Ensemble works for the SAG Awards, and it's really gross. Basically, you have to have your own title card to be included in the nomination. If you have a shared card, you're out of luck. So that means all of these people got screwed for it: The Big Sick - Aidy Bryant, Bo Burnham, Kurt Braunohler, Vella Lovell Get Out - Lil Rel, Betty Gabriel, Marcus Henderson Lady Bird and Three Billboards both have an unusual amount of single title cards (each coming in at 11), so that's why they have a bunch more nominees. I haven't seen Mudbound yet, so I don't know if there are any big snubs there, but especially with Get Out, it's a shame that two of the best performances in the movie IMO (Lil Rel and Betty Gabriel) don't get to be included in the awards by their own union...

This is why I kind of have a problem with the whole idea of a "best picture." Like, how do you even fucking compare Lady Bird and Get Out? They're both such fantastic movies, but they couldn't be more different, and trying to figure out which is better is nuts to me. That's great! Greg talks about how she's really funny and sweet in his book, so I'm glad that she's able to laugh at it all because she probably got it worse than anyone other than maybe Greg. Also, I love Carolyn Minnott in those videos you linked. She's hilarious. Edit: also, Robyn Paris (Michelle) wrote and directed those videos!

I don't really like Gerwig generally (although she's been growing on me over the last year or so after Twentieth Century Women), but Lady Bird is WONDERFUL. I think you'll really love it.

I'm hoping y'all are talking more "Bellbottoms" and less "Harlem Shuffle"

Gerwig and Peele not getting GG director noms is bullshit, too.

Yeah, but there's still no fucking reason The Big Sick didn't get a single Golden Globes nom Not even Holly Hunter? GTFO

Guys, I wish I had come back a week earlier because I FUCKING LOVE The Muppet Movie. It's one of those movies that I saw a billion times growing up. I used to hide behind my dad's recliner when the ghost town scene started because "Animal gonna get big and scare me."

So, I definitely had the trailer for that movie with the kid in the foreign jail, but otherwise, since I saw it at Alamo, it was the same three trailers they've been showing for a bit (I, Tonya, The Shape of Water, aaaaand one other I can't remember because I just kind of space out because I've seen them so many goddamn times) I'm definitely a sucker for a good friendship story, and even though this one is completely nutzo, the core of it is Greg and Tommy's friendship. And I found that part really well done (and I might have even teared up once or twice as well). That's not really the impression I got from Sestero in the book. I felt like by the time he finally took over with Mark, he was kind of exhausted by all the Tommy-ness of everything. And on top of that, he basically had to answer for Tommy to all the cast and crew, and there just really weren't any answers for it. And then there's the fact that it was clearly written while he was still bitter about both the movie and his relationship to Tommy. It sounds like he's come around on that, and honestly, I'm really looking forward to Best F®iends because it looks absolutely bonkers. And thanks for the kind words/welcome back, everyone. Things have been....strange over the last few months, but everything starting to even out now, so I'm definitely going to try to be around more.