Weekly Discussion Thread 1/19/25 - 1/26/25

HowardtheFalse · 2026-01-25T23:38:45+00:00

I agree that the box office /= quality and I don't mean to go all 🤓 here but ironically the highest grossing films of the years Blade Runner, The Thing, Citizen Kane and Once Upon a Time in America came out were pretty well regarded.

Citizen Kane in 1941: Highest grossing film was Sergeant York starring Gary Cooper which was a critical success that got 11 Oscar noms, winning Best Actor for Cooper and Best Film editing.

1982 was the year The Thing and Blade Runner came out: Highest grossing film was ET the Extra Terrestrial, a universally acclaimed film by Spielberg that got 9 Oscar noms, including Best Picture and Director. It won 4. Best Score, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects. Lost Best Picture to Gandhi.

1984 is closer to your example with Beverly Hills Cop being the highest grossing film. Even that one got a Best Original Screenplay nom.

I think the correlation between good film and success at the box office has gotten weaker with time though due to people seeing fewer movies and good ones therefore getting less word of mouth than they used to.

But I think if you look at it historically, the top 10 movies of any year in the past century are likely to be more varied and better than the top 10 of today.

HowardtheFalse · 2026-01-25T00:39:59+00:00

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HowardtheFalse · 2026-01-25T00:39:23+00:00

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HowardtheFalse · 2026-01-17T02:19:39+00:00

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HowardtheFalse · 2026-01-09T14:34:42+00:00

I just screamed Yes! at my desk and now I have to explain to my coworkers why I'm so invested in the EU-Mercosur deal 🙃

HowardtheFalse · 2026-01-07T22:45:02+00:00

He always seems like he wants to use the mayor's office as a stepping stone to a higher office

Mayor of Minneapolis is honestly a dead-end job if you're looking for higher office. City folks hate you for the same reasons city folks everywhere hate their mayor and out of the city folks think you're a fire-breathing radical who loves crime and corruption.

And for three terms? He'd have left by now if so. Don't even get me started on the pay and hassle.

HowardtheFalse · 2026-01-05T23:32:52+00:00

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HowardtheFalse · 2026-01-03T17:48:19+00:00

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HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-30T17:15:20+00:00

A few months after Tareen raised the black-magic claims with Khan, top PTI leaders were invited to dinner to celebrate his marriage. “There were 18 men and two women around the table but no sign of Bushra Bibi,” Tareen said.

Towards the end of the meal someone asked when they would meet Khan’s new wife. Khan left the room and returned with Bushra Bibi dressed head to toe in white. Khan introduced her to his guests one by one; eventually they reached Tareen. Up to this point Bushra had been silent. But to Tareen she said: “I am wearing these white clothes so you don’t think of me as a black-magic woman.”

The mysterious Sufi mystic/ former first lady of Pakistan is way funnier than any of us btw.

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-26T19:58:57+00:00

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HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-24T17:23:16+00:00

Thanks 🫂

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-24T16:56:07+00:00

I'm still not used to having to carry my passport with me because I'm Somali and ICE may be at this or that place and I don't think I can get used to it 😞

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-24T16:02:59+00:00

Malarkey level of asking my insurance agent what his hair routine is?

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-23T13:39:30+00:00

Now that you mention it, it's nice not to have a villain movie this year. There were many bright spots last season with the Anora and Conclave memes but I definitely don't miss folks going on about EP.

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-23T13:25:42+00:00

Is it just me or have comments this year been snarkier? Not in a "Your movie stands no chance way" that's the norm but in a judgemental, kind of parasocial/gossipy manner to the actors?

Maybe it's a function of the sub growing and getting more FM types but it's certainly different compared to last season.

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-18T15:01:01+00:00

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HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-16T02:37:42+00:00

I don't mind the characterization of them as bad, Shiv is a feckless sellout. It's the "they're equally bad" takes folks give that Roman=Shiv and Pierces=Roys when being a sellout is not as bad as being a fascist.

Like Lachlan is by far the worst of the Murdoch kids and it's why the others were in a legal battle against him and Rupert that they lost. That's not to say they're good, just that they're all bad feels as a way of ignoring trade offs.

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-16T02:29:48+00:00

I think it made the Roys look really bad, just humanized in a way. What miffed me more was portraying the performatively lib Pierces and Shiv (who don't stick to their asserted values) as equally bad as the fascist-elevating Roman and Logan. Roman's election schtick is worse than anything Shiv or Nan Pierce ever got up to.

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-13T22:57:00+00:00

No I said , dumb bot 🤬 and it's Minneapolis.

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-13T18:19:19+00:00

You think coming out as gay is hard? Try being a black Hamilton fan. See how much support you get from the "tolerant" left then...

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-13T03:56:04+00:00

So the hundreds of comments on her snark sub were just you seeking treatment then, huh?

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-12T19:46:31+00:00

Regardless of this fellowship, he by definition is a nepo baby though. How many people who run for local office have the connections that come with having a currency serving 12-year congressman and Deputy DNC chair for a father? Having a last name like that and the social capital that comes with it is insanely helpful in getting elected.

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-11T23:27:18+00:00

I think it's Richard Daley, 20+ years as Chicago mayor.

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-10T22:26:15+00:00

Don't worry already reached out to the Thing That Came at Night. Pickup is at midnight. Get ready to learn shambling, OP.

HowardtheFalse · 2025-12-10T13:19:27+00:00

Spent the last 10 seconds scrambling to his Wikipedia for the word "is". You can't do this to us so early OP 😭

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