TagMovies & TV

• Bernie Sanders praised the show “The West Wing” for its accurate portrayal of the White House, but it has since become an article of faith in the Berniesphere that the show is reflective of everything wrong with the Democratic Party.
• The show accurately conveys the idea that there are a lot of sincere people in politics who are committed to their ideas and to advancing public policy in better directions.
• It also illustrates that Americans like outsiders in presidential politics, but not radicals, and that presidents have a big impact on the national mood, even if they don’t accomplish much legislatively.
• The show also highlights some odd and neglected aspects of the American political system, such as the order of succession problem and the potential for debt ceiling mischief.
• However, the show has one major flaw in that it has a small cast of characters, which underrates the actual complexity of the American federal government.

Published January 9, 2023. Visit Slow Boring to read Matthew Yglesias’s original post.

• Matthew Yglesias shares his ten favorite movies of 2022, plus a late-breaking favorite from 2021.
• He wanted to highlight the range of movies that came out this year, from arty films to blockbusters.
• He notes that many established directors are shying away from stories set in the present day.
• His favorite movie of 2021 is “I’m the Worst Person in the World”, a movie about a contemporary college-educated resident of a city in a rich country.
• His top movie of 2022 is “Tár”, a poster child for the death of cinema argument.
• His second favorite movie of 2022 is “Top Gun: Maverick”, a triumphant return of the non-MCU blockbuster.
• His third favorite movie of 2022 is “The Stars at Noon”, a plot-lite, vibes-heavy look at white people moonlighting in the developing world.
• His fourth favorite movie of 2022 is “She Said”, an adaptation of Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s book about their reporting on Harvey Weinstein.
• He praises the movie for front-loading professional women’s outrage at Trump’s impunity.
• Steven Soderbergh’s Kimi is a great little paranoid thriller that taps into the psychological and sociological factors that shaped reactions to the Covid pandemic.
• Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey is a great example of how freshening up story templates with a more diverse set of heroes can be successful.
• Thor: Love & Thunder is a satire of MCU films occurring inside the MCU itself.
• Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is a bracingly ahistorical biopic that is faithful to itself.
• Avatar 2: The Way of Water is an extremely idiosyncratic project that cost $1 billion and is the most genuinely immersive moviegoing experience.
• Not Okay is a streaming-original black comedy that addresses contemporary reality and the ethical ambiguities of our modern world.

Click HERE for original. Published December 29, 2022