A few film thoughts in this fiction issue: I thought Lane's Indiana Jones review was his best in several issues. I enjoyed the structure of the review and a late film in a franchise like this lends itself well to Lane's humor. Haven't actually seen the movie so am sympathetic to the critique that the film is terrible and Lane is being too generous.
Time will tell if the piece on the Mattel extended cinematic universe will read as satire 10 years from now. I agree most of these executive statements seem stupid, but with comics seemingly running out of steam and nothing else working at the cinema, it's at least possible that non-comic familiar IP ends up being the dominant cinematic force for the next few years. (I hope not, but I also would have preferred a completely different blockbuster trajectory in the 2010s.)
By the way, I think I'm the only person on the planet who mildly enjoyed the Battleship movie referenced in the piece (a quick check indicates Lane didn't like it either). It was obviously dumb, though.
Anyway, for me the top article this week was Zadie Smith's Dickens thing. Looking forward to reading the novel once it comes out.
Finally, on the subject of Letters From, I suppose the magazine does have a few other "foreign correspondents." Lauren Collins's writings on France and to a lesser extent Rebecca Mead's Letters From the UK are usually good reads. But I'd love a few more of these contributors from a wider range of locales.
A few film thoughts in this fiction issue: I thought Lane's Indiana Jones review was his best in several issues. I enjoyed the structure of the review and a late film in a franchise like this lends itself well to Lane's humor. Haven't actually seen the movie so am sympathetic to the critique that the film is terrible and Lane is being too generous.
Time will tell if the piece on the Mattel extended cinematic universe will read as satire 10 years from now. I agree most of these executive statements seem stupid, but with comics seemingly running out of steam and nothing else working at the cinema, it's at least possible that non-comic familiar IP ends up being the dominant cinematic force for the next few years. (I hope not, but I also would have preferred a completely different blockbuster trajectory in the 2010s.)
By the way, I think I'm the only person on the planet who mildly enjoyed the Battleship movie referenced in the piece (a quick check indicates Lane didn't like it either). It was obviously dumb, though.
Anyway, for me the top article this week was Zadie Smith's Dickens thing. Looking forward to reading the novel once it comes out.
Finally, on the subject of Letters From, I suppose the magazine does have a few other "foreign correspondents." Lauren Collins's writings on France and to a lesser extent Rebecca Mead's Letters From the UK are usually good reads. But I'd love a few more of these contributors from a wider range of locales.
No second E in Delany
Whoops, fixed... ten times over!