Don't feed controversies after midnight.

But if you do, watch your ear holes.👂

Latham Arneson

Mar 20, 2025

THE QUOTE 🎬 💬

“You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig.

You dig.”

hint: a movie where the cigarette is a legit co-star

THINK THOUGHTS 💭

Based on last week’s poll, you apparently don’t think I keep secrets. So that means I’m either the most boring person ever, or I overshare to the point you know literally everything about me.

Not sure which is worse. 🤔

NEWSY BITS 👾

Netflix’s Ted Sarandos Isn’t Done Disrupting Hollywood: On Winning the Streaming Wars, a Marvel ‘Fistfight’ and Defending Meghan Markle [Long read] - Sarandos is profiled or interviewed a lot (with good reason), and he’s always dropping fun nuggets, e.g. Doesn’t see Amazon Prime as much competition, doesn’t get why Apple is doing video, doesn’t get why WB called Max “Max” and not just HBO. - Variety

Moviegoers Want More Comedies, Thrillers and Action Titles, Global Cinema Study Finds - “Then go see them!” exclaim exasperated movie producers. “Make better ones and I will!” say lethargic movie goers as they scroll through Netflix. - Variety

Warner Bros Negotiating Big Sale Of Shelved ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’ Movie - seems like it might be Ketchup Entertainment, same company who released last week’s Looney Tune movie, to save it. - Deadline

Movie theater in Miami Beach faces eviction after showing documentary 'No Other Land' - bullshit. context: No Other Land won this year’s best doc Oscar and is about the Palestinian/Israeli “situation.” - NPR

NOTABLE NEW RELEASE(S) 🎟 & 📺

Disney’s Snow White

On your list of things to worry about, the controversies stirred up by Disney’s Snow White remake should probably sit near the absolute bottom. Definitely below the end of the of the sun’s life in an estimated 5 billion years and even a cut below the debate for best David Hasselhoff song (clearly Du).

Not because you’re not allowed to care about whether the story should follow the traditional one where Snow White needs a kiss to come back to life (don’t count on it) or the lead actors’ political opinions (actors: they’re people too, who knew) or whether Disney should have cast actors that are little people to play the seven dwarves instead of casting mostly regular sized adults (or even made the movie in the first place).

It’s just that, when something becomes a “controversy” now, it no longer becomes a legit discussion about a potentially important topic, it starts to take on this own weird little controversy gremlin life. Where people make their decisions based on the fact these mean little fuckers are sitting on their shoulders making them feel real uncomfortable, lest they make the “wrong” decision and the gremlin rips their ears off and shits in their auditory canals1.

Snow White, like any movie, hell, any person or thing to exist in the entire plane of space and time can have aspects that people don’t like, and stuff people do like—at the same time. I know, wild.

And here I’ve spent nearly the entire time talking about these damn c-gremlins when I said they should be at the bottom of your “shit I could care about” list. But consider this me exercising them for you so you can make your moviegoing decisions without worrying about gremlin poop getting in your way of listening to the latest NPR news update, and more on the fact critics say Rachel Zegler is a lovely singer and presence in the movie as Snow White, but it’s still another situation where too many people are like, “what for?”

Which honestly, is the same question someone could ask about c-gremlins.

Watch the Trailer

Out: Friday

Where: Theaters

Details: 1 hr 49 mins | PG | 🍅: 47%

Movies are better with (good) company.

EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE(S) 📝

Alto Knights - double the Robert De Niro double the fun? Um, not quite. The reviews say while it’s cool to see De Niro playing two big mob bosses (Frank Costello and Vito Genovese) things feel a bit lacking when movies like Goodfellas and The Godfather exist. Theaters Friday

Magazine Dreams - speaking of controversy gremlins... This movie had/has a huge one on account of the assault charges (and conviction) of lead Jonathan Majors. It actually shelved the movie for two years, but apparently, “we back.” The reviews, notably written before Majors’ assault charges, say the movie is such a commitment from, and entirely dependent on, Majors that it’s hard to look away (in a good way). But considering he strangled his partner, among other accusations, it’s a situation where one can understand never wanting to look in the first place. Limited Theaters Friday

Bob Trevino Likes It - basically the “good news” segment of the nightly news turned into a movie. The reviews say the story of Barbie Ferrera (Euphoria) searching for her dad and happening upon a similarly named man on the internet (played by John Leguizamo), with whom she ultimately creates a loving (platonic!) relationship, is everything you want to see in the world. Limited Theaters Friday

The Assessment - very much sounds like an acting class—full grown-ass adult woman (Alicia Vikander) tests a couple’s (Elizabeth Olsen, Himesh Patel) fitness to be parents by playing their child. However, the reviews say the future set sci-fi movie stays intriguing, thrilling even, while it pushes incredulity. Limited Theaters Friday

Ash - movies are the original vibe play and musician/director Flying Lotus is very much a vibes-based artist. The reviews say his Alien-influenced movie about an amnesiac astronaut (Eiza González) wondering if she can trust a newcomer (Aaron Paul) gives you tons of trippy visuals and gonzo type action-horror. (I saw first-ever first short a while back and daaaaaamn was that shit wild) Limited Theaters Friday