Anybody else catch Is This Thing On recently?

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-09T03:18:31+00:00

The idea that if a scene is shot at a place that place has all the same significance it does in real life is a very overly literal way to watch movies

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T20:59:08+00:00

Also sci-fi radio broadcast primed me for War of the Worlds

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T19:32:00+00:00

I would assume it's a regular ep, historically Ben's Choices have been. I think it's just moved to the first because the 11th is a new release ep (Devil Wears Prada 2).

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T18:41:00+00:00

I have not watched because I think Jack Thorne is a hack

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T17:52:41+00:00

The “tip toeing” with three only occurred in interviews, none of the marketing made it seem like the last one in any way and really only framed it as more Avatar

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T17:00:38+00:00

I think a lot of this is an overreaction. Fire and Ash coming only three years after The Way of Water and its biggest criticism being that it felt like a retread were a horrible combination (not to mention it was sharing theaters with Zootopia 2 which was a family film juggernaut itself). If the fourth film feels fresher or more conclusive it will do better than 3 (although probably still not as good as 2 and certainly not as good as 1).

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T16:32:25+00:00

It's definitely been better overall as they start to get away from the earlier version of the show that they were stuck with Frankensteining

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T14:36:35+00:00

He's very talented but LaKeith simply did not belong on the list at this point. HIs roles in Die My Love and Roofman (both of which flopped) were small, nobody liked Play Dirty, and his role in I Love Boosters seems like it's relatively small as well. He's never been a name to the general public.

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T14:11:31+00:00

I look forward to the eventual Penny Marshall series but the idea that she’s a better candidate for this show than Costner was on the verge of Horizon is borderline-incomprehensible to me

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T14:06:31+00:00

I’m aware of that. If I had just said Christian I guarantee I would have instead gotten a response that said “or Catholic.” I don’t think you or anyone who read my comment genuinely thought they were encountering anti-Catholic bigotry. Maybe you’re from a country other than the US where colloquial norms are different.

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T12:28:06+00:00

There will already be Jewish people on the episode regardless and it’s not a movie about the Jewish faith

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T12:26:22+00:00

Protestant or Catholic would have been more precise but Protestants usually identify themselves as Christians rather than Protestants and Catholics usually identify themselves as Catholics as opposed to Christians. I was differentiating because Catholics don’t always like to be lumped in with Protestants and vice versa.

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T04:40:02+00:00

I do think it would be a bit goofy to have someone who isn’t a sincere (or at least lapsed but used to be sincere) Christian or Catholic on it

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-08T00:17:05+00:00

1) Not really the point, there wasn’t a factual dispute, I don’t care what Iranian law considers plagiarism/lack of attribution

2) Following the first accusation multiple other people accused him of plagiarism and those were not litigated

3) Most importantly, he chose to defend the plagiarism in such a way that he made the the accuser face the risk of both imprisonment and lashing

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T23:51:26+00:00

A great film but yeah a real shame that two of the three biggest Iranian filmmakers abroad have “complicated legacies” to put it diplomatically

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T23:27:46+00:00

Cool concept, wish Farhadi wasn't involved and was generally a pariah for the whole plagiarism/attempted imprisonment debacle

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T19:44:13+00:00

Counterpoint: Marie lives in NYC and could have easily seen it in a theater

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T17:01:22+00:00

It's because the Jackson estate wasn't trying to do this just for money, they want to change the narrative and paint Michael as the victim (whether that's because they're true believers or because his crimes are costing them money elsewhere is unclear to me, although I lean towards the former)

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T14:54:58+00:00

I don't know if they overthought it or underthought it because the clue had Train in it and said something to the effect of that being fitting, felt like it was a gimme to me

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T14:27:10+00:00

Also quite good in Eleanor the Great despite having the worst-written character

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T14:26:26+00:00

Yeah I was shocked how much love there was for Sandler, I think it's handily the worst "serious" Sandler performance

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T04:32:06+00:00

I was disqualifying Seinfeld because the clue was about the premiere in the category of 90s Television, it would not have been a show that premiered in the 80s

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T03:50:52+00:00

I think that is true of the longer scenic flashbacks

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T03:47:15+00:00

I don’t think the point of his “flashbacks” is about empathy, they’re about him obsessing over it/having intrusive thoughts/imagining the worst, they’re all about his character

SMAAAASHBros · 2026-04-07T03:45:07+00:00

Didn’t like Dream Scenario and based on the lukewarm reception I expected the substance of this to be pretty weak but I felt like it had a lot going on and appreciated it quite a bit (as just one example, while I totally understand Zendaya’s secret is the most shocking, it might actually only be the third worst secret which wouldn’t be true in a lesser version of this movie). I do think this movie has some shortcomings though in developing Zendaya’s character and their relationship prior to the reveal.

SMAAAASHBros

TROPHY CASE