The Jason Bourne series is one of those things that had a mostly bad influence on lots of other movies and mostly was a good example of how a series of films could suffer from diminishing returns as it kept going. But I will always have a deep fondness for this series overall and for a few of the films in particular. It was one of the best showcases for Matt Damon as a star.
Warren Beatty is one of the most fascinating stars in the history of Hollywood. I have found him to be as compelling as any major movie star that has ever existed and always grateful to get opportunities to explore him deeper and see new layers to his work in front of and behind the camera.
This 2022 interview response by Beatty was so illuminating for understanding the conflict and tension in all Beatty movies. Beatty is the ultimate narcissist who desperately wants to conceal his own narcissism. He is embarrassed by how essential narcissism is to being a genuine Hollywood star. Everything Beatty touches becomes worth examining because of this dynamic especially when he is firmly the actual director of his movies. And it has led to some truly great works of art.
But first. His one unforgivably bad film.
As I have probably mentioned a few times (if you are a semi-frequent reader or listener of the website), I am an English teacher in the Bronx. My students have to pass a series of state exams in order to graduate from high school. One of them is an English Language Arts exam which contains an essay prompt that asks them to analyze the “central idea” of a text. To the state of New York, “central idea” is the life lesson of a text. It is a childlike way of approaching art.
I say all of this to say that this is what I think of when I think of Ted Lasso. Not only could one easily analyze the “central idea” this show’s episodes, I would say that it almost feels like this show’s purpose IS to give life lessons. It feels like an after-school special that is seeking to spoon-feed ADULTS lessons about the right way to live their lives. Listen, we all need to turn our brains off sometimes and watch some crap. What does it say though that this particular piece of crap because such a hit and awards powerhouse? (Nothing good.) And are there glimpses of something better throughout? (Not really.)
Succession was The Last Television Show, and now it is over. And I am sad.
Jerome Cusson and Kevin Ford have been our point people for covering Barry on the website. Make sure you check out their coverage!
Jerome and Kevin Present: Barry (Season 1)
Jerome and Kevin Present: Barry (Season 2)
xXx has taken an unlikely path towards franchisedom. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that the franchise ended up in a radically different location than planned.
The series started in a downswing period for the James Bond franchise, and it seemed like someone wondered, “What if we made an American James Bond and combined him with the X-Games?” and then boom: new franchise.
They even found the perfect lead: Vin Diesel, fresh off the first Fast and Furious film. The only problem was, much like the sequel to Fast and Furious, Diesel refused to make it over script issues that they would not change on his behalf. Again like the Fast franchise, the studio eventually came back to Diesel when they knew it was better off with him and gave him much power over what happens on screen.
As a result, we have an endlessly uneven but sincerely fascinating in-progress franchise centered around one of the handful of new Hollywood stars from the 21st century.
Ben Affleck has directed five feature-length films so far. I ranked them all here. If he directs more, I’ll add them. He has had an interesting (if very inconsistent) career behind the camera so far.
5. Argo [2012] Continue reading Ranking the Ben Affleck Films
It has been told to death, but it is genuinely wild that a television show from the late 2000s which had only tens of thousands watch its series finale was resurrected over a decade later to do a very belated third season. But I suppose that is kind of fitting for such an offbeat and lowkey sitcom that somehow managed to always have an insanely talented cast that always made it a pure joy to watch.
Make sure you check out our previous Party Down coverage:
Jerome and Kevin Present – Cancelled Too Soon: Party Down
Céline Sciamma has been making some of the most haunting and beautiful movies this century. She is one of the best going today. If you have not seen all of her films, you should make a point to do so.
To a certain extent, I did not know what exactly to expect from this show. I realize now that despite vaguely feeling like it is a very respected and beloved show, I guess I only ever occasionally hear it talked about as a top sitcom of all time. And the first season seemed to make clear why you do not hear it in the conversation Seinfeld, etc. It was simply a very good situational comedy. If anything it is a far more interesting show than an outrageously funny show. Still though, it is very clearly worth going back and watch. You see stuff here that was not done before and then clearly influenced so much of what was to come from the future of sitcoms.
The Reel World 