John Ananias

Man, Buscemi being such a fixture through the Sandler filmography will always be a bit baffling to me.

Oh, A MONSTER CALLS! I did think Weaver and Neeson had been in SOMETHING together! Meanwhile, I kinda wanted to use CROSSROADS - the Britney Spears vehicle CROSSROADS - but couldn't think of a short path rom Dan Aykroyd to Liam Neeson.

I went: Saldaña - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL - Geoffrey Rush - LES MISERABLES ('98) - Neeson

Odd though that little trend may be, Duvall's sketches in that (surpisingly great) Garth Brooks episode stand out - "Who's More Grizzled?" is a strong game-show sketch in a show that already had 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 strong game-show sketch, and "Lay Lady Lay" is...not on that level, but an oddity I enjoy.

Re: Robert Duvall, I am 𝑠𝑜 curious about why the 1997-98 season had a run of typically-dramatic actors as "special guests," appearing in 1 or 2 sketches in episodes they weren't hosting - Duvall in the Garth Brooks show, John Hurt in the Steve Buscemi show, Bob Hoskins in the Greg Kinnear show...

The first film I thought of when I saw that Tom Noonan had died was ANOMALISA, which is - to me - a masterpiece, and Noonan is a major part of why.

This is, by the way, not shade at anyone I follow here.

I get it, but I'm also the uncommon BELFAST defender, so I'm not bothered about how it shook out (though I don't know if I'd have voted for either in Original Screenplay myself).

The more people complain about Kate Hudson's award nominations - especially the Oscar nomination - for SONG SUNG BLUE, the stronger I become...in my defensiveness re: her performance, anyway, not as a person or whatever.

I say "rather than," but of course, I'm talking about different years and the Academy's not putting PTA movies against each other, that's not how time or the awards work. It's just more satisfying, to me, that he'll - again, probably - have these triumphs for something like OBAA.

It's SO much better that PTA's Oscars are - probably - "finally" coming for ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay and likely Picture) rather than LICORICE PIZZA - which, at this time 4 years ago, I thought he may very well win Best Original Screenplay for. (1/2)

U
Talkin'
U2
2
ME?!

As someone who actually (generally) quite likes modern U2 and doesn't find complaining about getting a free album interesting to this day...a new release from the Lovable Lads from Liverpool is still more exciting for the possibility of Scott & Scott getting back in the studio.

The more things change, the more I'm STILL grinding my teeth to dust in aggravation when I hear an adult say "nucular."

(As much as I too like the Homer Simpson joke - because it's by people who GET THAT IT SOUNDS DUMB - it won't solve anything.)

Also, if we MUST acknowledge that the 2019 LION KING exists...fair enough.

I appreciate the SUPERMAN II love I've seen in the replies - there's no 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 great version of it (I prefer the "Donner Cut," but there are obvious drawbacks to it), but I'm a fan - but if you are indeed going by U.S. release dates, that one premiered/was released in 1981.

It was one of just 3 or 4 Ali Larter movies I could think of, but yeah, helps that it has such an eclectic cast.

I went: Freeman - SEVEN - Gwyneth Paltrow - SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE - Geoffrey Rush - HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL ('99) - Larter

It would be swell if any of this mattered and if one of the names most associated with all of this COULDN'T be/WASN'T in his SECOND term as President of the United States.

I love ad reads on podcasts because why SHOULDN'T it take 3-6 minutes to do a commercial that would be 30 seconds-1 minute on television?

One of those "notes" that just opens up so many more questions.

@thomasasena.bsky.social mentions in the latest "Pop Culture Five" that, when watching a movie, he'll - in his head - go through who in it has hosted #SNL, and I just want to say that I too have that brain disease.

My second favorite movie period is THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK - and I'm not terribly 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 about it not making the list, but...this is Screen Drafts, you never know. I AM more concerned about THE BLUES BROTHERS - a top-20 movie for me, one of the most joyous comedies//musicals I know - making it.

Conversations about the BEFORE movies just want to make me rewatch the BEFORE movies right then and there. My own ranking is different than how things shake out here, but I'm pretty sure no order is wrong. I'll probably be rooting for Hawke at the Oscars, even if I'm not expecting his win.

How many people do you imagine have mistakenly watched HOWARD THE DUCK thinking Tim Robin𝑠𝑜𝑛 was in it rather than Tim 𝑅𝑜𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑠? A lot?

Besides this being a deeply funny Black History Month choice...is this the first Julia Louis-Dreyfus movie you've covered on the podcast?

YouTube video by GmanC35 Mediocre Presidents

Oh, to yearn for MEDIOCRITY...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8N7...

An #Oscars season thought:

Cinematrix No. 692: February 16, 2026 Can you name a Halle Berry movie that begins with A-G?

Not great, yet I'm in the top 2%. "Hemsworth + double letters in title" spot dragged me down - looking at his IMDb after playing, there's only ONE other I COULD HAVE played.

Vulture Cinematrix No. 692: Feb 16, 2026

I got 9/9 Correct
Score: 2601

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Play at:
vulture.com/vulturecinem...

Complaining about "IP" as if it's ALL the same/just as annoying and over-exploited is maybe getting to be just as annoying as the over-reliance/over-exploitation on "IP."

The latest Hollywoodle:

Margot Robbie - BARBIE - Will Ferrell - DROWNING MONA - Neve Campbell

I don't know that I SHOULD be proud-ish of this one, a couple others have apparently had the same thought...but I kind of am.