Very interesting perspective, hmm I had thought it similar to an extent to the Reconstruction period in terms of scope and magnitude of the shake-ups but that works.
So that's why the T-Rex had tiny arms: to pick locks and hack computers! A longstanding debate in paleontology has finally been resolved!
A classic example of cinema mediocrite is The Last Jedi. Presumably you didn't go after it because it's low-hanging fruit, but it really is a masterpiece in the genre. It's got all the fancy special effects, the original actors are there, it does an impression of a blockbuster movie... and then it's a steaming pile of plagiarism that goes full retard.
I too am a connoisseur of so-bad-it's-good. Alongside the aforementioned Birdemic, The Room and Troll 2 are other fine entries in the genre.
As for the Atlantic article... if firing career bureaucrats amounts to regime change, that's a tacit admission that the federal bureaucracy is an unelected shadow government, that Western democracy is mostly kabuki theater, and that Trump/Musk/MAGA/DOGE are right about everything and totally justified, lmao.
Great summary on both points. It probably is regime change, which Anne Applebaum likes everywhere else, and which is supposed to be a good thing if the existing regime is a “bad actor”.
It is difficult for me to see the West’s post Cold War regimes (at least) as wholly beneficent.
Partial defense of _Casino Royale_ - in the novel it’s based on, Le Chiffre is a Soviet financier. The 2006 movie wanted to update the setting to the War on Terror - they just never stopped to consider whether Le Chiffre could have had the same amount of success legitimately.
Addendum: Le Chiffre COULD have made his money legitimately; the point is that he didn’t, and that’s why MI6 are interested in him. It’s not like there aren’t crooked bankers out there.
Honestly, Bond only gets worse the further he gets from the cold war.
I still think *Casino Royale* is a great spy thriller; the plot holes in the very background of the big bad's motivations pale in comparison to a tightly paced & believable interpersonal struggle.
Hum, working 17 hours a day teaching, also 6 full time side jobs to keep you in potato money, raising a couple of pre-prubesent girls, two fingered typing these essays on a cell phone while driving to and from jobs, and you find time to watch all those movies?
The Lost World and Prometheus are great examples of this. I have distinct memories of walking out of both of those movies feeling empty, knowing that something was lacking but I couldn’t quite explain what it was. The Matrix Reloaded and The Phantom Menace had this too.
Very timely, in that I spent two hours of my life last night watching George Clooney meander through his 2020 production, The Midnight Sky. I think the delusion starts with estrangement from self: George Clooney seems genuinely to believe that he is a lonely, tragic figure, and the illogic and implausibility just build from there. (Brad Pitt and Leo DiCaprio, by contrast, absolutely eat up their Leading Man roles and make sure you get the full actorly acting experience you paid for.) Know thyself remains very good advice.
Anne Appelbaum like many others has been under the liberal delusion a long time. The estrangement from reality is so long-standing and the neural pathways so fixed that when reality breaks through, as it inevitably must, the flailing attempts at retrospective justification kick in like fanboys frantically trying to salvage Prometheus: Trump is pulling down the goddam Statue of Liberty! 🗽 Our multi-trillion dollar funny money grift ... VIOLATED!
And, RIGHT ON CUE, your self-styled nemesis shows up in the comments to reveal his own brokenness. I can only watch in amusement and amazement. It's like a bad George Clooney film.
Tropic Thunder, I maintain, is the last great big-budget comedy. The “Never go full retard” scene, as with whole movie, simmers hilariously on multiple levels.
I liked the big reveal at the end. Not about movies; incredibly incisive parallel, especially nowadays as Hollywood's tricks (and money, presumably) bleed over into journalism's endeavors.
I’ve reached the end of my tether with most modern entertainment. It’s not just bad, but boring. I’m now debating whether the CM of yesteryear was really as good as I remember or if I’m just getting old and nothing was really that good or engaging.
Unless I can write a review and connect the movie or show to something relevant, I’ve basically boycotted all of it. Better to spend my time reading fun fantasy novels and new nonfiction books.
I think it wasn't as bad, as frequently. Stuff like *Glass Onion* just insults everyone's intelligence. Or *Avengers: Endgame* just resetting the entire character progression of Thor & Starlord - from men back to boys, in a snap.
CM is just movies as product, & (just?) the effects of bottom-line-*uber-alles* religion have gotten worse across all aspects of society from what I can tell.
How did I not know of the genius of Neil Breen until this day.
Currently, DC is in the midst of a bloodless purge.
It is like nothing else within my lifetime, and FDR's '33 ascension to power is the closest I've found in the US context.
Interesting times...
Very interesting perspective, hmm I had thought it similar to an extent to the Reconstruction period in terms of scope and magnitude of the shake-ups but that works.
But don't you know he's just like Hitler?!
So that's why the T-Rex had tiny arms: to pick locks and hack computers! A longstanding debate in paleontology has finally been resolved!
A classic example of cinema mediocrite is The Last Jedi. Presumably you didn't go after it because it's low-hanging fruit, but it really is a masterpiece in the genre. It's got all the fancy special effects, the original actors are there, it does an impression of a blockbuster movie... and then it's a steaming pile of plagiarism that goes full retard.
I too am a connoisseur of so-bad-it's-good. Alongside the aforementioned Birdemic, The Room and Troll 2 are other fine entries in the genre.
As for the Atlantic article... if firing career bureaucrats amounts to regime change, that's a tacit admission that the federal bureaucracy is an unelected shadow government, that Western democracy is mostly kabuki theater, and that Trump/Musk/MAGA/DOGE are right about everything and totally justified, lmao.
Great summary on both points. It probably is regime change, which Anne Applebaum likes everywhere else, and which is supposed to be a good thing if the existing regime is a “bad actor”.
It is difficult for me to see the West’s post Cold War regimes (at least) as wholly beneficent.
Partial defense of _Casino Royale_ - in the novel it’s based on, Le Chiffre is a Soviet financier. The 2006 movie wanted to update the setting to the War on Terror - they just never stopped to consider whether Le Chiffre could have had the same amount of success legitimately.
Addendum: Le Chiffre COULD have made his money legitimately; the point is that he didn’t, and that’s why MI6 are interested in him. It’s not like there aren’t crooked bankers out there.
Honestly, Bond only gets worse the further he gets from the cold war.
I still think *Casino Royale* is a great spy thriller; the plot holes in the very background of the big bad's motivations pale in comparison to a tightly paced & believable interpersonal struggle.
Casino Royale is a good film--real Bond atmosphere!
Skyfall too!
Who cares about 'plots'?
Hum, working 17 hours a day teaching, also 6 full time side jobs to keep you in potato money, raising a couple of pre-prubesent girls, two fingered typing these essays on a cell phone while driving to and from jobs, and you find time to watch all those movies?
Hey, stretches my suspension of disbelief. GRIN.
You’ll notice they’re all movies from years ago for the most part. I’m burning my savings, artistically speaking.
Hahaha good burn
The Lost World and Prometheus are great examples of this. I have distinct memories of walking out of both of those movies feeling empty, knowing that something was lacking but I couldn’t quite explain what it was. The Matrix Reloaded and The Phantom Menace had this too.
I disagree on the Phantom Menace. I felt like it was pretty good.
Phantom has many faults, enthusiasm is not one of them.
Very timely, in that I spent two hours of my life last night watching George Clooney meander through his 2020 production, The Midnight Sky. I think the delusion starts with estrangement from self: George Clooney seems genuinely to believe that he is a lonely, tragic figure, and the illogic and implausibility just build from there. (Brad Pitt and Leo DiCaprio, by contrast, absolutely eat up their Leading Man roles and make sure you get the full actorly acting experience you paid for.) Know thyself remains very good advice.
Anne Appelbaum like many others has been under the liberal delusion a long time. The estrangement from reality is so long-standing and the neural pathways so fixed that when reality breaks through, as it inevitably must, the flailing attempts at retrospective justification kick in like fanboys frantically trying to salvage Prometheus: Trump is pulling down the goddam Statue of Liberty! 🗽 Our multi-trillion dollar funny money grift ... VIOLATED!
And, RIGHT ON CUE, your self-styled nemesis shows up in the comments to reveal his own brokenness. I can only watch in amusement and amazement. It's like a bad George Clooney film.
America is the undisputed master of bullshit. We know how to wrap a turd. Some turds are so exquisitely wrapped you just have to respect the craft.
Thanks for the new concept, "Cinema Mediocrite", adding it to my toolbelt.
Section on Jaws XXXVIII is hilarious, not a single point deducted for picking of low-hanging fruit
It is hilariously bad. I still remember the final scene thirty odd years later, though
Tropic Thunder, I maintain, is the last great big-budget comedy. The “Never go full retard” scene, as with whole movie, simmers hilariously on multiple levels.
Librarian, check out the Neil Breen Wikipedia page.
His eyes are closed in the picture they have (like people are usually trying to avoid). Do you think that's on purpose? I do!
Some of the people offended by the last paragraph are surely upset that they didn't see it coming as soon as you defined cinema mediocrity.
Excellent essay, per usual!
Thank you very much.
Best analysis of Net Zero I have ever read. Great work.
Thank you
I liked the big reveal at the end. Not about movies; incredibly incisive parallel, especially nowadays as Hollywood's tricks (and money, presumably) bleed over into journalism's endeavors.
I’ve reached the end of my tether with most modern entertainment. It’s not just bad, but boring. I’m now debating whether the CM of yesteryear was really as good as I remember or if I’m just getting old and nothing was really that good or engaging.
Unless I can write a review and connect the movie or show to something relevant, I’ve basically boycotted all of it. Better to spend my time reading fun fantasy novels and new nonfiction books.
I think it wasn't as bad, as frequently. Stuff like *Glass Onion* just insults everyone's intelligence. Or *Avengers: Endgame* just resetting the entire character progression of Thor & Starlord - from men back to boys, in a snap.
CM is just movies as product, & (just?) the effects of bottom-line-*uber-alles* religion have gotten worse across all aspects of society from what I can tell.
So.. “regime change” now BAD. Formerly GOOD. As long as “foreign”, though. Hard to keep up.