loaded question: is fandom out of control?
And perhaps more pertinently, if it is, how do we fix it?
New York Times
loaded question: does Disney animation belong in the Metropolitan Museum of Art?
And if it is going to appear there, does the museum have an obligation to engage in robust criticism of it (not necessarily negative, just analytical) to avoid it feeling like, as a New York Times critic termed it, “a sponsored content post”?
curated: the boy who was almost Anakin Skywalker
Please watch this absolutely bittersweet and poignant short film about Devon Michael, a child star in the 1990s who was on the very shortlist to play Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace…
curated: “The Movies Are Back. But What Are Movies Now?“
AO Scott in The New York Times goes long on what I was trying to get at with my Question of the Weekend from July 3rd, when I asked, “What are movies for anymore?” (He doesn’t seem to know, either.)
Dark Waters movie review: capitalism will kill ya
If you like these sorts of movies, you’ll like this one, a solid SJW drama out to condemn, with plenty of evidence, profit-above-all capitalism that embraces willful negligence and corruption.
curated: why we don’t ‘see’ Star Wars anymore…
Many good thoughts here — ones I agree with — in a New York Times essay by Tim Kreider…
curated: “The Dominance of the White Male Critic”
Spoiler: The dominance of the white male critic is not a good thing.
The Mule movie review: the old man and the drugs
Welcome to Peak Apologetics for the Bullshit of White Men, replete with many appalling messages about their endless entitlement to redemption and forgiveness. And as a bonus, it’s racist and sexist.
curated: Trump’s misunderstanding of ‘Game of Thrones’ is totally emblematic of our culture today
Alas, Trump and his fans are not tuned in to metaphor. That sort of thing is for experts and intellectuals, who are not to be trusted.
On the Basis of Sex movie review: Notorious RBG’s origin story
Coasts on the awesomeness of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a way unadventurous if solidly crowd-pleasing. But the depiction of her incredibly supportive marriage to a feminist man is intensely satisfying.
