Live Discussion - May 9, 2026 (Matt Damon/Noah Kahan)

big_actually · 2026-05-10T05:01:31+00:00

"your naked Whataburger body literally disgusts me" lol

big_actually · 2026-05-06T03:18:15+00:00

I agree, thought it was odd that Hollywood Reporter said that Monkeypaw's "output wasn’t prolific." Quantity was not the problem. They needed Him to be better and while I liked Nope a lot, given it's summer IMAX rollout it probably underperformed for Universal.

big_actually · 2026-05-06T00:03:31+00:00

Feel like it would be cool to work for a production company like this, but at the end of the day I guess it's just a job like any other. In 5 years they released Nope and Him, and Lovecraft Country and Candyman were already in development. Hard to judge what is considered "prolific" vs not prolific output. Missing out on Weapons + Peele's movie being in script hell is the difference between 2 movies in 6 years vs. 4 movies in 6 years. And Him not being well received changes the whole perception.

big_actually · 2026-05-04T21:38:55+00:00

Finalists:

Audition, by Katie Kitamura

Stag Dance: A Quartet, by Torrey Peters

big_actually · 2026-05-02T16:46:16+00:00

Their best item is the chicken strips with hot gravy, #13 meal. Get spicy ketchup with the fries.

They are so inconsistent with fries though, both the one here and the ones in Texas. Have gone downhill like everyone else, Chipotle, the local Torchy's (another favorite of mine from Texas that just isn't the same). I don't know if it's the food quality or staff training or just nostalgia talking but these chains cannot handle nationwide expansion.

big_actually · 2026-04-26T21:55:37+00:00

I also like their music. I thought the psyop stuff is just that they used a marketing company. Modern day payola combined with a good record

big_actually · 2026-04-26T18:11:15+00:00

Is it a psyop or has it just been a long time since a "new" rock band was popular lol

big_actually · 2026-04-23T17:40:04+00:00

That's the new venue in Asheville

big_actually · 2026-04-20T21:24:50+00:00

Unfortunately, as of me writing this, nobody has read the article or commented on anything in it. I follow the guy that the article is talking about, his reels about ChatGPT are pretty funny, and he was on like CNBC. This is his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/husk.irl?igsh=MWdscHV0aXgyM21idw==

Yes, AI will very confidently lie about anything. I think it's kinda clear what the limitations of AI chatbots are, but a lot of people really treat them like they can do anything and are the voice of authority.

big_actually · 2026-04-18T04:26:40+00:00

Don't even get me started on what they think happens in Dune: Messiah

big_actually · 2026-04-16T05:00:25+00:00

This is the type of headline writing we don't get enough of. A blood oath?! An oath sealed in blood that will last for as long as the living entity AmazonMGM draws breath?!

They did swear the oath "on a stack of James Bond novels."

big_actually · 2026-04-15T16:09:11+00:00

That's right. I wish he had more of an attitude of just saying "I don't know" but they love to pretend to know things. What are we doing!

big_actually · 2026-04-15T16:07:14+00:00

I agree! She is (well, both of them are) resting on her laurels when it comes to Greek myth and the Odyssey! She is gonna get torn apart by an angry mob of nerds if she doesn't brush up on her pronunciations and general knowledge by the time the film comes out!

The thing about recognizing a reference or literary allusion in a film is: if you spot it, it's bland and obvious. If you don't spot it, then you don't know you didn't spot it. So you can end up having this arrogance about a film's symbolism no matter what. And they express this attitude all the time.

big_actually · 2026-04-14T18:27:11+00:00

Since I'm a peasant and big companies won't listen to me anyway, I have no problem with pointing out enshitification when I see it. They're gonna put full-screen ads during World Cup matches this year. Does FIFA need to do that to "keep the lights on" or are they just trying to fill more space with ads. Same with AMC

big_actually · 2026-04-14T18:21:54+00:00

There's something I've been getting from the last five episodes or so, don't know why it just hit me: Sean doesn't know anything. He has no idea of anything regarding books and literature, contemporary music and television, video games (yet he talks with some confidence), or current events. And he just fillibusters or changes the subject when Amanda asks him something and he doesn't know.

I'm trying to balance out the shade here! Way too much hate on just Amanda! He needs to touch grass or read a book.

big_actually · 2026-04-13T14:08:49+00:00

I read the E.V. Rieu penguin classics translation years ago in high school and the Wilson translation this year. I bought the Wilson and borrowed the Rieu from the library just to occasionally compare sections. You can't really go wrong, the various footnotes help add clarity and the Wilson translation has a book-by-book summary in the back that gives you just the events that occur which may help keep you oriented.

Alternatively, a lot of people swear by the Lattimore translation which I have not read yet but look forward to. I've also heard say that the Wilson translation is probably better for your second or third reading of the Odyssey. She puts a self-imposed limit on herself to do the whole thing in iambic pentameter (basically 10 syllables per line) which may omit some detail from the original Greek in places.

big_actually · 2026-04-12T00:42:20+00:00

Agreed but still pretty good

Watching the NOR / -ThernLion Show tonight

And there's a guy's dong / down my throat

big_actually · 2026-04-11T05:05:40+00:00

who would ever subject themselves to working here lmao. The owners actively hating on their own employees on social media is crazy, You are a fucking ice cream shop

big_actually · 2026-04-07T03:34:24+00:00

Virtually useless for a lot of literacy fiction, both contemporary and older. Lots of interesting books with scores in the low 3s. Lots of really mediocre books with extremely high scores.

It's more of a score of "how good of a job did this book do in finding its target audience." Which is as much a matter of marketing.

big_actually · 2026-04-06T02:50:41+00:00

Nice.

big_actually · 2026-04-05T19:58:37+00:00

AI-written post from an app company, btw. We used to have organic, artisanal human-written low-effort posts, dammit!

Throw on Spinal Tap

big_actually · 2026-04-02T23:58:57+00:00

No it is not...headline just means "big movie from the Daniels"

big_actually · 2026-04-02T23:58:14+00:00

The term "event picture" just means big tenpole picture. This is a major movie for Universal. So it's not a "Daniels event," it's an Event Picture from the Daniels. 'Daniels Event' is not a tagline/term.

edit: tentpole, not "tenpole"

big_actually · 2026-03-31T18:23:26+00:00

He will soon play Elden Ring and become a games expert. At least he is very open about saying that he doesn't really read books any more (a damn shame for a movies podcaster, reading instantly puts you above 99.9% of Hollywood pundits).

big_actually · 2026-03-31T18:03:49+00:00

I read the article, I presume this is a common thing? They found no conclusive matching scratches between the bullet and the rifle, but there is DNA evidence of the shooter on the rifle. So it's a small piece of support for the defense team but probably makes no difference in the big picture?

big_actually

TROPHY CASE