Greetings, my pets! Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? Anyways, on with the it….

On the 22nd, Jason Christian analyzed the toxic masculinity of the film version of Affliction, on Bright Wall/Dark Room:
“Affliction goes beyond the standard narrative of monstrous men. It gives insight into how men sometimes attempt to overcome their abusive inheritance by redirecting violence away from their wives and children into what they see as a justifiable target—the powerful—however they understand that idea. For these men vigilantism must feel qualitatively different than domestic abuse or a bar fight. Righteous revenge is undoubtedly intoxicating to those who commit it, but it’s a bankrupt pursuit.”

Since stuff from Jacobin is always so well-received on here, I thought that I’d share this interview Adam McKay did with Connor Kilpatrick on the 26th:
“It’s a running theme throughout McKay’s work: the powerful force looming over all of our lives that’s either so terrifying or so dull that we’ll take any chance to look away. A financial conglomerate raiding a workers’ pension fund is just too damn boring to spot.”

Also on the 26th, Hannah Woodhead of the BBC, talked about The Piano after it topped their poll of the 100 Greatest Films Directed by Women:
“The history of women behind the camera is a history of oppression, as filmmaking, like so many professions and artistic endeavours, was once the reserve of well-connected, well-off white men. This bias toward films made by one narrow set of creatives has in turn shaped our collective film history, but the results of this poll (and last year’s 100 greatest foreign-language films) prove that there is a wealth of talent out there, waiting to be discovered and recognized. How apt, then, that The Piano – a tale of female desire and oppression at the hands of the patriarchy – should resonate so deeply with viewers, more than 25 years since it was made.”

Paul Freitag-Fey of the Daily Grindhouse, gave thanks for fandoms on the 27th:
“I’ll admit fandom’s a mixed bag, and I’ve certainly encountered my fair share of those involved that turned out to be less than stellar individuals. (Hell, someone may say the same of me.) But I’ve ‘met’ (or at least corresponded with — I’ve got a bad track record of actually meeting people in person) dozens of nifty folks online who genuinely love the same sort of movies that I do, and whose knowledge and recommendations keeps me as infatuated with movies as I’ve ever been. Toxic fandom gets all the attention, but knowing that a high school kid, whose immediate friends and family may not get why the hell they’re watching Hammer horror movies all night, can log on and find a community that supports and shepherds their love for classic horror cinema gives me hope that social media fandom can be a great thing.”

Finally, also on the 27th, Kayla Webley Adler looked at the made-for-tv Christmas movie war (on which I am Team Lifetime), over at Marie Claire:
“Over the past decade, and especially in the past few years, Christmas movies have evolved from something to put on in the background while you wrap presents, into a full-fledged programming event with networks—principally Hallmark and Lifetime, and increasingly Netflix—squaring off against each other in the race to spread Christmas cheer one sappy, predictable holiday happy ending at a time.”

Enjoy!