BFG Podcast #316: Boomer Hollywood Twilight
Neal and Stephen chat about Aaron Sorkin, Tom Cruise, Robert Pattinson and more
Is this the twilight of Boomer Hollywood? The three movies Neal Pollack and Stephen Garrett discuss on the podcast this week might point toward yes. First, they discuss the most OK Boomer movie of the year, Aaron Sorkin’s laughable The Social Reckoning, his panicked response over Facebook content moderation debates from six years ago. It contains none of the charm, mystery, or urgency of The Social Network, but does contain a lot of scenes of wet Mikey Madison, about which Sorkin might want to consult a therapist. The Social Reckoning serves up howler after howler. It’s a film conceived by your Dem-donating uncle’s Facebook feed.
Next is Alejandro Inarritu’s inexplicable bomb Digger, starring Tom Cruise as an oil tycoon, an actor, or both, in a “satire” about global warming embedded in a satire about global warming. A grating soundbath of pretension, Digger does have a few interesting ideas and good set design, and Cruise tries his damndest to win an Oscar, which adds to the amusement.
More mixed is Primetime, a film about the life and death of the infamous NBC show To Catch a Predator. Neal actually liked this film more than Stephen, who found it sleazy. But it’s probably the best of the three. Given that we’re in the waning years of human-made film, these three movies provide an argument that that might not be such a bad thing.
Enjoy the show! It is good!
