Frivolous Fluff
Nice to see that Madonna Miley Cyrus Sabrina Carpenter is still entertaining the masses:
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Tim Pool was on Pop Culture Crisis and had a tip for viewers: Do an Internet search for how to say “twelve months” in Estonian.
Try it and play the sound. We dare you.
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We haven’t checked in with Rip van Dinkle lately. Apparently, he’s still getting fan mail mocked online by female followers:
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Maybe it’s a Gen Z thing, or maybe it’s a case of network “wokeness,” but good grief, reality TV is getting gayer by the day.
Once upon a time, I could watch Survivor and expect to see hot chicks in bikinis. Now I’m more likely to see some effeminate dude crying at tribal council about how tough his life is.
I think The Amazing Race has a gay quota. The show must include at least two homosexual couples, preferably married. Of the remaining males, most must either be in the closet or be what we used to call “sissies.”
If there are any raging heterosexual men in the Race cast, they must be photographed doing something homoerotic, such as last week’s challenge in which men had to wrap Sumo-wrestling diapers, er, cloth bands, around each other — in excruciating closeups.
Meanwhile, on The Traitors, male contestants are routinely filmed bathing or lounging in bed with come-hither poses.
Listen, I’m all for representation on reality TV. Gays and lesbians should be represented. But just because Hollywood is dominated by gay-friendly wokeness doesn’t mean the rest of us want to be bombarded with the stuff.
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I am regretting, just a bit, my high praise two months ago for Tim Pool’s podcast. I think of Pool as a political pit bull, much needed when doing battle in culture wars with the left. The problem is, once the battle is won (at least temporarily), the pit bull is still there, hungry for more blood.
Since Trump’s election, Pool’s emotional outbursts seem less vital, more petty. He and co-host Phil Labonte recently took turns screaming at coworker Elaad Eliahu on air when the topic was income inequality. I got the feeling that Labonte and Pool have dreams of joining the “one percent,” and cannot tolerate dissent. Eliahu, who pointed out anger over the outrageous discrepancy between the haves and have-nots, had to be shouted down and denounced as a “communist.”
And then there are Pool’s squabbles with local West Virginia government officials, and with left-leaning … skateboarders. And what’s up with the mysterious firings at Timcast, most recently Hannah Claire Brimelow?
Trump won the election, and, for the moment, things have quieted down in America. I don’t need or want the pit bull. I’d prefer some peace and quiet.
Then again, you never know when you might need him again.
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I finally got around to watching Trap, M. Night Shyamalan’s latest hit-or-miss movie (sadly, another miss).
It occurred to me that, once a film loses you thanks to its credibility gaps, you stop forgiving dumb scenes that you might forgive in a better, more entertaining film.
Trap has way, way too many scenes that stretch logic.
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Watcher
On the surface, 2022’s Watcher is a tough sell to the casual viewer. A plot synopsis reveals that not much happens in the story. And if you’re expecting a big surprise at the end, you might be disappointed.
But here’s the thing: As written and directed by Chloe Okuno, Watcher is a moody blast from the past. It’s a mix of two classics: Roman Polanski’s Repulsion, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.
Maika Monroe plays a newlywed American in Romania who grows increasingly lonely — and possibly paranoid — as she wanders the streets of Bucharest while her husband is at work. She doesn’t speak the language, she’s unemployed, and her new life seems, well, foreign. Because it is.
But wait — is that man in the apartment across the street spying on her? And, later, is she being followed out of a movie theater? It doesn’t help her state of mind when she discovers that a serial killer is on the prowl.
I loved the movie’s callback to poor Catherine Deneuve alone in an apartment, and I am always a sucker for Hitchcock-inspired thrills. Release: 2022 Grade: B+
Would I watch it again? Yes, definitely.
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Here’s a Thought
Hollywood movies are hemorrhaging customers. Here’s a thought: Stop cranking out two-and-a-half-hour movies, or three-hour movies. That’s too damn long.
Liberal media outlets like MSNBC and CNN are hemorrhaging viewers. Here’s a thought: Stop lying to your audience. Maybe then they’ll trust you again.
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I checked out a pretty good thriller the other day, called Watcher (review tomorrow). Dude who played a creepy neighbor is pictured below, an actor named Burn Gorman:
Is he not the reincarnation of the guy pictured below, Skelton Knaggs, who also played creepy characters in the 1940s?
By the way, wonderful names. Now we need an actor named Burn Skelton.
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I’ve had “likes” from Ricky Gervais and Louis C.K. on my X posts.
Is that a good thing, or should I be worried?
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Short post this week, because I am a bit sick of politics. Also, I am more than a bit lazy.
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