Saturday Evening Movie Post [moviegique]: You Can See Everything

I had no real knowledge of Elizabeth Holmes or Theranos going into this movie. Just a vague sense that she had scammed people with a ridiculous medical device that purported to do all kinds of things and didn't.

Do I know any more now? 

I don't know.

"Why would I deceive you?"

I do think this an exceptional documentary that earns its 175 minute runtime and is a fascinating look at some complex characters. In some ways, it's a documentary about Nathan Fielder. What I think is especially commendable is that, for all its staged elements—which are overtly staged, with an Amanda Seyfried filling in for Elizabeth Holmes—I think it is actually a documentary, as opposed to a narrative that Fielder and co-director Lance Oppenheim want us to believe.

It's not that there's not a point-of-view, it's that the point-of-view is very clear and guileless. Or "guileless appearing" as it's kind of hard to come out of this movie without wondering if everything is manipulation and performative.

I mean, not just in the movie, but everywhere.

I have my own take, of course, but let's start with the basics: Fielder is selected by Holmes and her husband Billy Evans to do the documentary because Fielder thinks "outside the box". Holmes is not really aware of Fielder's work, nor of Abbot and Costello and their "Who's on First?" routine, a sketch she doesn't understand when they watch it. She laughs, but because of the confusion, not because she understands the grammatical roots of the humor.

Holmes, you see, is weird. 

As it turns out, "weird" is a pretty big club.

We don't know all the ways that she is weird, but one way is an affect where she smiles and makes a lot of direct eye contact with whomever she's talking to. She's a distaff hide-the-pain-Harold, essentially, and this affect makes her very easy to make snap judgements about. 

And what I had heard about this documentary was that it was akin to In Cold Blood, where we learned (decades later) that Truman Capote had a thing for one of his cold-blooded killers and so altered the facts to protect his love interest. The suggestion has been made that Fielder fell under Holmes' spell like so many others and therefore is hiding something damaging about her. In fact, Seyfried herself makes this suggestion toward the end of the movie.

But this is remarkably shallow, and shallowness is a kind of through-line of the documentary.

Holmes invites Fielder to actually live with them for the last few weeks before she starts her eleven year sentence, and after a while he takes her up on that, and we do, in fact, see a whole lot. Too much, at times. Probably the number one thing you hear about the movie, besides the clip of Holmes where she says "Why would I deceive you?" with her affect in full flower, is that there is nudity in the film, and it's Evans and his whangdoodle.

This was his idea, apparently. But it's not particularly revealing. (Is that irony?) He's an odd character, for sure, but he's also in the oddest of situations. The couple and their two kids (Holmes has had a baby a month prior) are trying to max family time before she goes away, which creates some friction for Fielder & Co., especially with Evans, who comes across as overbearing at times, and brittle.

But then he's staring down a decade of being a single dad, essentially, to two young children. The peril of the same sort of shallow snap judgement applies here.

Most "documentaries" are fine with this. They give you villains, heroes, etc., etc., etc., to tell the story they want to tell. Here we see bits and pieces of things that allow multiple narratives to be built, and it feels more honest for that. We don't see "the mask drop," which is what you'd expect if Holmes were a sociopath. Evans and Holmes are devoted to each other, but they lack unctuous presentation of, e.g., the stereotypical Christian evangelist who presents himself as devoted and turns out to be a bully who's banging hookers on the side. 

Holmes is devoted to her children, and the smiling affect she has goes away when she's experiencing grief or worry or regret—and less so when she's afraid. The affect—the thing she's most called out for, that people call a red flag—works against her, I think. Her natural charm, such as it is, overcomes that affect rather than being a feature of it, or helped in any way by it.

In fact, to me, it looks like PTSD. (And looking it up now, apparently that was part of her unsuccessful legal defense.)  To me, also, she looked increasingly like a woman who abdicated responsibility to the man in her life, and in ways that are only unusual in their extremity. 

I was unable to find a picture of Seyfried in this film, so enjoy this picture of her in her low-budget Oscar-bid musical flop, "The Testament of Ann Lee".

They watch "The Dropout," a Hulu series where Amanda Seyfried plays "a character based on Holmes", which is the actress' dodge for the slander that results in abuse for Holmes once she's in prison. Fielder brings Seyfried in to re-enact scenes that happened before the cameras, and the jail scenes, and begins by showing her how devastated Holmes is by the series.

Throughout the doc, Seyfried goes through a series of interesting reactions. At first, she comes off like she's an inch deep, blowing off the idea that anything she did might have a real effect on Holmes, and besides she deserves it. Then she acts out a series of deeper examinations—only to come back around to it's just television and besides, Holmes deserves it.

There's a scene early on where Evans takes eggs away that Holmes is scrambling to scramble them properly. (Seriously, I was watching this and thinking "That's no way to scramble eggs!") Holmes doesn't seem to mind, but Seyfried latches on to this to decide that Evans is controlling and destructive. Then the actress meets with Evans and the two are particularly antagonistic.

Seyfried opens with attacks on his sexual prowess. The situation itself seems more than a little contrived. The two walk into Evans place, and Evans says he hasn't had sex for 899 days. (He's counting!) Fielder asks him if he's good at it, and Evans response with something like "I'm great at it." This is a weird conversation, just for starters.

But then Seyfried seeks to humiliate him by claiming she lied to every man she ever slept with. This dovetails nicely with the whole premise of whether one knows when someone is lying to you, but is meant to highlight Evans supposed narcissism. 

On the other hand, it reminded me of the idea that you can tell someone is stupid when you say something like "Men are generally taller than women" and they respond with "My sister is taller than my brother," as if that were a rebuttal. This is almost the inverse: "I'm good at sex" gets rebutted with "I've never had good sex."

Also, holy cow. How dysfunctional is that? A Wall Street Journal article's headline claims that Seyfried is the only trustworthy character in the film, which is a bold claim since she's apparently lied to every man she's ever been intimate with. (I won't dignify the article by reading it, which leaves me free to speculate that this either goes unaddressed or is brushed aside with "Everyone lies about sex." Remember that chestnut?)

For his part, Evans antagonizes Seyfried over her unkind comments in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination.

At this point, Evans has been raising his kids for two years on his own. He's also been using his Power of Attorney to do things like post to Holmes' Twitter account. Seyfried finds it appalling that he should have the Power of Attorney, but given that Holmes is in jail, it seems reasonable to me. Both Fielder and Seyfried are alarmed at how Evans claims that he and Holmes are essentially of one mind, and he doesn't even have to talk to her to know what she would want.

Sounds sinister, right? Then at the end of the movie, Holmes says the same thing: That she knows Evans' mind and doesn't even need to talk to him to know what he thinks about things. She has whole conversations with him alone in her cell.

Seyfried says she would break the two up if she could. This is the inch-deep thing re-surfacing. She says this even as we're all aware that Evans has relocated his house to Texas to be near her, so he can take the kids every weekend, and does daily calls to whatever the limit is.

Seyfried also acted very impressed by this seaside rental, which I didn't quite understand.

Speaking of inch-deep: Holmes understanding of the device she is credited with being in charge of is less than mine, and I'm only going on what she said during the movie. That is, she describes the device not like a software engineer, not like a chemical engineer, but like a pamphlet trying to sell the device to someone who is not very smart. I got the principle—how such a thing could theoretically work, and what it would take to make it work, and what kind of device it would have to be—and I wouldn't need to say a word about "the cloud". 

Some people say this is all part of the ruse to which I say, it's a very convincing ruse. And of course, "the ruse" often becomes "the thing" after a while. Politics is composed almost entirely of people playing dumb, to the extent that they eventually are no longer playing.

In a way, everyone in the movie is doing what Holmes did: Using the abilities they have to get attention, acclaim, money, allies—while brushing aside responsibilities they don't want to deal with. In Holmes case, this may well be the financial stuff that got her into trouble, and the engineering stuff that got her into trouble, and the marketing stuff that got her into trouble. 

For Seyfried, it's "It's just fucking television" and witch hunting.

I think Fielder came in wanting to expose Holmes, but he didn't find much to expose. I think he toyed with the "controlled by men" thing, but he doesn't dig into Holmes' older lover who guided her through the Theranos project (and is serving even more time). And while it's clear he finds aspects of Holmes relationship with Evans weird, he also says he sees genuine love and a real family unit. 

The result, I think, is something more honest than the usual documentary. It doesn't tell you what to think because I don't think Fielder himself is sold on any of the easy narratives. 

Meanwhile, quite a few things charged my tinfoil hat. The media machine is in full swing in every aspect of this case, like it's a gremlin on the wing of the airplane and I'm William Shatner. The media creates this character, the media hypes the company, and it's not even a question of whether or not they'll turn on a dime and destroy the character. It's all grist for the media mill. If Theranos was on to something, and the pharmaceutical companies decided it needed to die so they could steal all the patents, would the media then fall into line and destroy what they created? 

That's a rhetorical question, of course, independent of whether Theranos was on to anything.

I'm reminded, for some reason of Wilhelm Reich, a mid-century quack who developed a theory of life-force called "orgones" which I presume is complete nonsense, and which the FDA—inspired by libel printed in The New Republic—responded by cracking down on him with utter savagery, including destroying much of his written work—well out of scope of their already unconstitutional charter.

I also thought of Martha Stewart, thrown into jail not because of insider trading, which is the smear that attaches to her, but because somebody wanted her in jail.

There is an object lesson in this film, I think, but I'm not sure anyone involved in making it knew what it was.

She had children! This is totally a manipulation tactic and not a woman in love looking at what's probably her last chance!

Comments

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1

I love me some AI!

Now to see if I did anything disastrous here.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 07:33 PM (K40fF)

2 Nooded.

Posted by: Nazdar at November 07, 2026 07:33 PM (NcvvS)

3 Long one today guys, sorry.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 07:33 PM (K40fF)

4 Thanks, moviegique!

Posted by: Nazdar at November 07, 2026 07:33 PM (NcvvS)

5 You're welcome, Nazdar!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 07:35 PM (K40fF)

6 I'm sure I'll watch "You Can See Everything" when I can see it for free. Looks interesting.

Posted by: gp at November 07, 2026 07:35 PM (Jr5Lq)

7 "Lilly Turner" (1933) Way better than expected! Recommended. While ogling Chatterton's gams, don't forget to watch your glands.

"Marked Woman" (1937) Hollaback girl Bette Davis sasses the wrong high-class clip-joint owner. I love the way she perfectly modulates her fiery glares: always just enough, never too much too soon.

"The Bad Sister" (1931) Bette Davis' first feature. Sidney Fox is the bad sister, Bette gets the wallflower sister part. I wish that they had been cast the other way round. Bogie is the cad.
youtube.com/watch?v=Yws12DzwCtU

Posted by: gp at November 07, 2026 07:37 PM (Jr5Lq)

8 "Star City" (2026) Apple TV miniseries, one season so far. Grim, oppressive fantasy drama of the Soviet manned space program. I enjoyed it.

"The Client" (1994) It's OK until unforgivably stupid third act.
youtube.com/watch?v=IqNKu2KnUK4

"Proof of Life" (2000) Somebody please make a fan cut with all the Meg Ryan scenes edited out.
youtube.com/watch?v=PmL0UcBQFCI

"American Assassin" (2017) It held my interest to the end.

Posted by: gp at November 07, 2026 07:37 PM (Jr5Lq)

9 "Heat" (1995) Michael Mann's love letter to Los Angeles, and to all the shades of the color blue. (I wish him a quick recovery from his recent gunshot wound.) I think I've rewatched Heat more times than any other movie: my head is all the way UP it, and for me, the action IS the juice.

"Alpha Dog" (2006) Good as drama, but far from the true story. Ben Foster brings the crazy, Shawn Hatosy brings the scary.

"Donnie Brasco" (1997) The intensity builds until PITA Anne Heche gets a well earned slap, bringing welcome catharsis.

Posted by: gp at November 07, 2026 07:38 PM (Jr5Lq)

10 Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:32 PM
......

Man, somebody can type!

Posted by: wth at November 07, 2026 07:38 PM (oq9dX)

11 | Man, somebody can type!

When I published my technical first book many, many years ago, it was 800 pages long. My grandfather looked at it and exclaimed, "You typed all that?!"

(And 300 pages more, and the typing was the easy part.)

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 07:41 PM (K40fF)

12 Not exactly a zombie movie, more like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but-

We saw a Japanese horror movie streaming on Shudder titled, "New Group". It kinda fits in with the events of this week.

The story is set in a Japanese high School where one boy is seen in the school yard on his hands and knees. Soon other students are joining the form a gymnastic pyramid. The school officials begin supporting the student pyramid and it grows larger and larger as it attracts more people. And then things get weird.

This is one of those individual vs the group stories.

I won't tell you that it's a great movie, but it's entertaining in WTF way and definitely keeps your interest as you want to see how things work out. You'll probably be surprised.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 07, 2026 07:41 PM (YSUhf)

13 Good evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at November 07, 2026 07:42 PM (Ia/+0)

14 Good evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at November 07, 2026 07:42 PM (Ia/+0)

15 Thanks for the movie thread.

It may have been the beer but I couldn't get through 'Smile.' I found it boring, and with all the inter-racial stuff, it felt like a lecture.

Posted by: Stateless - Ralphy - 106.5 years old! Puppy at heart! at November 07, 2026 07:43 PM (Sco7b)

16 Hello, Skip.

Hello, Skip.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 07:43 PM (K40fF)

17 13
Good evening everyone
Posted by: Skip

14
Good evening everyone
Posted by: Skip
.......

Good evening Skip
Good evening Skip

Posted by: wth at November 07, 2026 07:46 PM (oq9dX)

18
Is sounds like nutty people making a nutty documentary about other nutty people.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 07, 2026 07:47 PM (eRlcH)

19 This thread has a Skip.

Posted by: fd at November 07, 2026 07:47 PM (MWfyi)

20 I think there's an echo in here.

Posted by: wth at November 07, 2026 07:47 PM (oq9dX)

21 Well, obviously they should've turned development of the device over to the Somalis.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 07:47 PM (ndZc7)

22
Hiya Skip!

Posted by: four seasons at November 07, 2026 07:48 PM (/QHx4)

23 Aw. Quit teasing Skip. Anyone can make a mistake can make a mistake.

Posted by: Tuna at November 07, 2026 07:49 PM (lJ0H4)

24 This thread has a Skip.
Posted by: fd
......

or two.

Posted by: wth at November 07, 2026 07:50 PM (oq9dX)

25 I've had more than enough of this whole story. Has it been documented, canonized, and monetized enough?

Posted by: San Franpsycho at November 07, 2026 07:50 PM (RIvkX)

26 So, did you come away with it that, rather than being a con artist, Holmes was a true believer and that belief allowed her to convince other stupid people who thought they were really smart?

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 07:50 PM (Y/06r)

27 Limetown is a 10 half hour episode syfy limited series on Prime. First, the good news. I pretty much liked it. Hundreds of the best and brightest scientists found the isolated utopian community of Limetown where they do neuroscience stuff. All is well and good for a while until a panic 911 call comes in. When the responders finally get there, there is not a soul in the place other than the body of their guru who has been chained to a pole and burned. Now it's 15 years later and nobody knows what happened or where the scientists are. APR (American Public Radio) reporter (and lesbian) girl boss whose beloved uncle is among the missing investigates. What follows is a good syfy mystery with an unexpected amount of real human emotion.
Now for the not so good. It's rather bloated. Instead of 10 half hour episodes, they could've made two or three hour episodes that would been much tighter. And it's woke. Hero is a girl boss lesbian and, as is usually case, the lezbo stuff is pointless virtue signaling. Girl boss is rather shockingly morally flexible and leaves a trail of dead bodies in her wake as she pursues TRUTH.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 07:51 PM (ndZc7)

28 I caught a netflix doc on SCTV that I enjoyed this week. Very heavy on interviews with the cast.

Posted by: Bilwis - Wizard of Clwyd at November 07, 2026 07:52 PM (r7+Q7)

29 Nice summary, 'Gique. I'm intrigued and will catch it on VOD/streaming, because three hours for a documentary, pseudo or otherwise, is too much for lumbar or bladder.

Our local TV reviewer said to watch it in a theater so you'll remain fully engaged, so that's another valid take.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 07, 2026 07:52 PM (kpS4V)

30
"In July 2011, Holmes was introduced to former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, who joined the Theranos board of directors that month. Over the next three years, Shultz helped to introduce almost all the outside directors on the "all-star board", which included William Perry (former U.S. Secretary of Defense), Henry Kissinger (former U.S. Secretary of State), Sam Nunn (former U.S. Senator), Bill Frist (former U.S. Senator, senate majority leader and heart-transplant surgeon), Gary Roughead (Admiral, USN, retired), Jim Mattis (General, USMC), Richard Kovacevich (former Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO) and Riley P. Bechtel (chairman of the board and former CEO at Bechtel Group)."

What were they thinking? What oversight did they provide? Were they just picking up a check? (think I know the answer to that)

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 07, 2026 07:53 PM (eRlcH)

31 25 I've had more than enough of this whole story. Has it been documented, canonized, and monetized enough?
Posted by: San Franpsycho at November 07, 2026 07:50 PM (RIvkX)

Probably a long time ago, yeah. Expect a bunch more, tho'.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 07:54 PM (K40fF)

32 What were they thinking? What oversight did they provide? Were they just picking up a check? (think I know the answer to that)
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 07, 2026 07:53 PM (eRlcH)

A LOT of this, from what I have read, is like WWI-league sunk cost fallacy level thinking.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 07:54 PM (Y/06r)

33 Over the next three years, Shultz helped to introduce almost all the outside directors on the "all-star board", which included William Perry (former U.S. Secretary of Defense), Henry Kissinger (former U.S. Secretary of State), Sam Nunn (former U.S. Senator), Bill Frist (former U.S. Senator, senate majority leader and heart-transplant surgeon), Gary Roughead (Admiral, USN, retired), Jim Mattis (General, USMC), Richard Kovacevich (former Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO) and Riley P. Bechtel (chairman of the board and former CEO at Bechtel Group)."

-
Well, they're smarter than you and me.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 07:55 PM (ndZc7)

34 "Russia's War: Blood Upon the Snow" (1995) Devastating nine-ep documentary series on Stalin's reign, fueled with amazing historical footage, lots of interviews, and material unearthed from the Soviet archives shortly after the fall of the USSR. Somebody very generously gifted the DVD set to me, and I'm trying to think of a way to get it to people who need to see it. 10 out of 10, must see!

Posted by: gp at November 07, 2026 07:56 PM (Jr5Lq)

35
Did the "all-star board" think, "Wow! She's got all this VC funding. Must be legit." Or did the VC guys think, "Wow! Look at the big brains on the board. Must be legit."

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 07, 2026 07:57 PM (eRlcH)

36 I enjoyed the Spanish language limited series on Netflix The Final Problem. It's murder mystery set on a Mediterranean island among the beautiful jet set people in the early '60s. The premises is that a fading actor famous for appearing as Sherlock Holmes in a series of movies is lured to the island in pursuit of a role. Once there, a series of murders breaks out and faux Sherlock Holmes is expected to solve them. It's not woke, I like the setting, and it's a pretty good story.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 07:58 PM (ndZc7)

37 A coupla movies at my googleplex I want to catch: "Wicker" (aka Fifty Shades of Hay), "Wild Horse Nine" just for Malkovich, Rockwell, and Buscemi, and maybe "Wildwood".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 07, 2026 07:58 PM (kpS4V)

38 26 So, did you come away with it that, rather than being a con artist, Holmes was a true believer and that belief allowed her to convince other stupid people who thought they were really smart?
Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 07:50 PM (Y/06r)

I think this is the norm in Silicon Valley. They say "We're going to reinvent the X industry" and the X industry will say "No, you're not, because of A, B & C."

And a great many times, the X industry is right. And some other times, they're technically wrong, but "A, B or C" includes "We're going to throw roadblocks in your way you can't get around."

In this case, there's an implication that what they were trying to do is =possible= but not the way they were trying to do it. And they're still going, but from my limited understanding it's a much harder problem than they gave it respect for.

Now, I thought the same was true of Elon and his attempts to re-invent the auto industry. And he's eventually proven me wrong.

But I don't see any Elons here.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 07:58 PM (K40fF)

39 34 "Russia's War: Blood Upon the Snow" (1995) Devastating nine-ep documentary series on Stalin's reign, fueled with amazing historical footage, lots of interviews, and material unearthed from the Soviet archives shortly after the fall of the USSR. Somebody very generously gifted the DVD set to me, and I'm trying to think of a way to get it to people who need to see it. 10 out of 10, must see!
Posted by: gp at November 07, 2026 07:56 PM (Jr5Lq)

There was another we watched during my Russia at War class... Red Empire? Presented by Robert Conquest. It was very good. I think I found it on ewetub several years ago... I'll look.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 07:58 PM (Y/06r)

40 28 I caught a netflix doc on SCTV that I enjoyed this week. Very heavy on interviews with the cast.

Is it "You Had To Be There"? I couldn't get to the theater in time to catch that.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 07:59 PM (K40fF)

41 'Gique, did you fall under the spell of her wide, unblinking blue eyes?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 07, 2026 07:59 PM (kpS4V)

42 I'm so confused.

So, Seyfried (who very clearly played Holmes in "The Dropout," I watched it [and thought it was good except for being rushed toward the end]) is at times re-enacting Holmes in this documentary, and at other times is playing herself, giving color commentary on Holmes and her family?

Huh?

Posted by: Dr. T at November 07, 2026 08:00 PM (lHPJf)

43 Saw last week on Tubi a French movie Come What May. 2015 about beginning of the war and a tiny village. Was really good I thought.

Posted by: Skip at November 07, 2026 08:00 PM (Ia/+0)

44 "I think this is the norm in Silicon Valley."

It's called 'fake it til you make it.'

Posted by: gp at November 07, 2026 08:01 PM (Jr5Lq)

45
Does Holmes still do the vocal fry stuff or was that an affectation?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 07, 2026 08:01 PM (eRlcH)

46 Not much movie watching this week. But did revisit A Flash of Green on Tubi. Ed Harris, Blair Brown, and Richard Jordan in a nicely done adaptation of John D. MacDonald's novel. Well worth a look.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 07, 2026 08:01 PM (q3u5l)

47 Here is the Red Empire doc, in it's entirety:

https://youtu.be/Q05q71zJKNY

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 08:01 PM (Y/06r)

48 "Here is the Red Empire doc, in it's entirety:

https://youtu.be/Q05q71zJKNY"

Thanks so very much!

Posted by: gp at November 07, 2026 08:03 PM (Jr5Lq)

49 37 A coupla movies at my googleplex I want to catch: "Wicker" (aka Fifty Shades of Hay), "Wild Horse Nine" just for Malkovich, Rockwell, and Buscemi, and maybe "Wildwood".

The last two are on my list. I almost forgot about Wildwood, I'll have to catch that before it goes away. WH9 isn't out yet, I don't think. [checks] Oh, wait, yes it is.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:03 PM (K40fF)

50 While I'm doing my computer work, I've just been playing the
'Resident Evil' movies in the background. Milla was very attractive and the effects were really good.

I'm piecing the story together through multiple run throughs but it'll be nice to watch them if I ever sit and watch a movie again.

Oh, and they had reboots, animated movies. A lot of stuff.

Posted by: Stateless - Ralphy - 106.5 years old! Puppy at heart! at November 07, 2026 08:04 PM (Sco7b)

51 Huh?
Posted by: Dr. T at November 07, 2026 08:00 PM (lHPJf)

I say old chap, that Amanda Seyfried doesn't seem entirely stable. I recognize the signs, you see, from the women I have dated.

*takes puff from churchwarden pipe*

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 08:04 PM (Y/06r)

52 42 I'm so confused.

No, you're not. You have it exactly right.

She played Holmes in "The Dropout". Fielder has her come in and do re-enactments of parts where there wasn't a camera. AND she's got opinions.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:04 PM (K40fF)

53 I've mentioned the series This Is Not a Murder Mystery, most recently when the Art Thread featured surrealist painter René Magritte who is a main character in this series. In fact, the series title is inspired by words written on one of his paintings, This Is Not a Pipe. The setting is a gathering of surrealists for a show in 1936 to introduce the world to surrealism and includes such guests as Salavador Dali, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Lee Miller et al. The plot (so far) resembles Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None except the murders are apparently inspired by the guests' surrealist art work. The series is over the top super woke to the extent that I am allowing myself to believe that this is satire. Anyway, if you're looking for something different, this different.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 08:06 PM (ndZc7)

54 I had never heard of Elizabeth Holmes, and only vaguely was sort of aware of Theranos, I guess it really annoyed rich people to find out the magical cure was just a scam but I say "a fool and his money" to that.

Been watching some older movies recently, and some recent stuff as well

I saw a movie called Prime Cut from the early 70s with Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman. It was a bizarre mix of spoof and serious crime drama that did not seem to know what tone it was going for. It was Sissy Spacechick's first movie, she spends a lot of it either nekkid or in transparent clothing with huge staring eyes, i can see how she got a career out of it.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:06 PM (TMNW7)

55 | Does Holmes still do the vocal fry stuff or was that an affectation?

I heard no fry.

| 'Gique, did you fall under the spell of her wide, unblinking blue eyes?

On the contrary. It's a huge detriment to whatever charm she does possess.

In fact, if anything, I do not understand how she made it anywhere with this affect. It absolutely undermines her credibility in any interaction (to me).

Except it's so stupid and so out there, I have trouble believing it's a bit. I really did think "PTSD".

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:08 PM (K40fF)

56 Sissy Spacek always creeped me out. I don't know. It's the huge eyes, innocent face and straight part that just scream mortal, children of the corn terror.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 08:09 PM (Y/06r)

57 The only movie that kind of interests me right now coming out is "I Play Rocky" but not enough to go see it. I can catch it on streaming, some time. Godzooky is supposed to be good but I am not big on the giant monster genre.

I watched Nobody, which was supposed to be John Wick 2.0 but was just okay. Odenkirk does a decent job as Joe Everybody, but he never seems all that capable just determined. It was entertaining enough but I am glad I didn't lay out 14 bucks for it or whatever films are these days.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:09 PM (TMNW7)

58 Somali Daycare Owner Cited for Over a Dozen Violations Wins Minnesota House Seat

-
Maybe it's not too late for Holmes to enter politics.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 08:09 PM (ndZc7)

59 No, you're not. You have it exactly right.

She played Holmes in "The Dropout". Fielder has her come in and do re-enactments of parts where there wasn't a camera. AND she's got opinions.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:04 PM (K40fF)


I see. And we're sure that Nathan Fielder is not, in fact, Werner Herzog?

Because that sounds vaguely like something Werner Herzog would do.

Posted by: Dr. T at November 07, 2026 08:10 PM (lHPJf)

60 In other news, that British actor with the car door ears is being posited as the next Bond, but a wild card suggestion has been Robert Pattinson. I thought he just wanted to do oddball character roles but I guess he might make an okay 007.

Ten years ago they should have cast Henry Cavill. Too late now. He would have been perfect.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 07, 2026 08:10 PM (kpS4V)

61 36 I enjoyed the Spanish language limited series on Netflix The Final Problem. It's murder mystery set on a Mediterranean island among the beautiful jet set people in the early '60s. The premises is that a fading actor famous for appearing as Sherlock Holmes in a series of movies is lured to the island in pursuit of a role. Once there, a series of murders breaks out and faux Sherlock Holmes is expected to solve them. It's not woke, I like the setting, and it's a pretty good story.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 07:58 PM (ndZc7)

I liked it, too, but you have to roll with some of the more unrealistic elements in the premise...

Posted by: Nova Local at November 07, 2026 08:10 PM (Gb7+b)

62 For me, I started Season 1 of Mistletoe Murders...b/c I needed more murder mystery, and I'm 4 episodes in and it's good fun. It will probably eventually get annoying, but it's not there yet...

Posted by: Nova Local at November 07, 2026 08:11 PM (Gb7+b)

63 I'll never watch it because nobody from the last two decades deserves a three-hour documentary.

Stop with movieflation. I am not spending more time than it would take to play 18 holes of golf to go to a theater to watch anything. Eat me.

Posted by: ballistic at November 07, 2026 08:11 PM (oqH4h)

64 54 I guess it really annoyed rich people to find out the magical cure was just a scam but I say "a fool and his money" to that.

Not even a cure, but a cheaper/less traumatic way to run lab tests.

From what I could tell, though, they were trying to put a lab in a box. I've worked in labs (never as a lab tech, tho') and I've seen what specimens go through: Centrifuges, agitation, chemical mixtures.

I don't get how anyone can say "Oh, yeah, we can do all that in a small box with a drop of blood."

What they're trying to do now--yes, they're still at it--is =change= the tests.

There's almost certainly a way to reach the goal, but it's not going to be as simple as "lab in a box".

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:11 PM (K40fF)

65 Sissy Spacek always creeped me out

I never thought much of her as an actress, she was in the same category as Barbara Hershey, Sondra Locke, and Susan Sarandon to me: they keep getting work but I couldn't say why, other than their willingness to get their yobs out.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:12 PM (TMNW7)

66 "they were trying to put a lab in a box."

It was a solution in search of a problem.

Posted by: gp at November 07, 2026 08:13 PM (Jr5Lq)

67 Just watched a clip of Elizabeth Holmes speaking.

I go on my gut a lot. It is usually darn near perfect when it comes to people (massive bipolar people aside.)

Dear Lord. She makes my gut wrench.

She's a true believer. I have no desire to know what happened in her life to give her that affect. Fuck.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 08:13 PM (Y/06r)

68 I also saw Clayface, and if you don't get squeamish with cut up faces, it was a good movie showing a realistic descent into madness when Hollywood discards you b/c you aren't pretty anymore and the rest of the world shuns you b/c they are told to do so by those in power...

Posted by: Nova Local at November 07, 2026 08:13 PM (Gb7+b)

69 || Godzooky is supposed to be good but I am not big on the giant monster genre.

Just got back from it. It is good and I am also not big on the giant monster genre. It's very much like the previous entry: Heavy on emotion and melodrama, and very, very impactful but not overlong monster fights.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:14 PM (K40fF)

70 Stop with movieflation. I am not spending more time than it would take to play 18 holes of golf to go to a theater to watch anything

The best theory I heard as to why movies are so long now is streaming: they measure success by minutes watched, so the longer the program...

I saw "A Working Man" with Jason Statham playing Jason Statham. All his stuff is pretty entertaining even if its basically the same thing over and over (like Arnie's old stuff). It was better than "Nobody" to me, smarter and with a better story. The book by Chuck Dixon is better (great series of books) as usual.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:15 PM (TMNW7)

71 The best theory I heard as to why movies are so long now is streaming: they measure success by minutes watched, so the longer the program...

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:15 PM (TMNW7)

I think it is also because the art of editing (in anything) has gone bye bye. No one wants to cut anything someone worked on even if it would help pacing and clarity.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 08:16 PM (Y/06r)

72 40 28 I caught a netflix doc on SCTV that I enjoyed this week. Very heavy on interviews with the cast.

Is it "You Had To Be There"? I couldn't get to the theater in time to catch that.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 07:59 PM (K40fF)

actually no, It's called "SCTV The Greatest Show You've Never Heard Of". I found it under New on Netflix and it's dated 2026. About an hour and a half. I got a real kick out of Catherine O'Hara talking about the high school quiz bowl sketch and where the character's name and school came from. Her (the character during the game) answers are so subtle but so damn funny.

Posted by: Bilwis - Wizard of Clwyd at November 07, 2026 08:16 PM (r7+Q7)

73 Re: James Bond casting:

Has anyone mentioned Clive Owens?

Is he also too old?

In which case, shouldn't resist "how old" because my vote is still Henry Cavill.

Posted by: Wenda at November 07, 2026 08:17 PM (qBjG1)

74 | Maybe it's not too late for Holmes to enter politics.

Aryans are out these days. Unless she's an Amerind like Warren.

| I see. And we're sure that Nathan Fielder is not, in fact, Werner Herzog?

It has a very Herzogian vibe.

| 63 I'll never watch it because nobody from the last two decades deserves a three-hour documentary.

I share the sentiment generally, but this did not feel long. Sometimes documentaries can be very compelling. Jenny Nicholson did a 5 hour review of the Star Wars Hotel which was riveting.

Also, uh, that guy who did Shoah. He did "The Last of the Unjust" and that "Four Sisters" movie and those dwarf these. (And of course "Shoah" is, like, eight hours.)

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:17 PM (K40fF)

75 Wanted to catch Ramayama, but it’s only playing at nighttime hours, 8:30pm and on.

Guess I’ll have to liberate it when it hits streaming.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at November 07, 2026 08:17 PM (XV/Pl)

76 But I don't see any Elons here.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 07:58 PM (K40fF)

I think the difference is the difference between building a toll bridge and building a toll road. A half built road still connects a number of places with more to come, and a half built bridge is just a danger of falling off the end.

If Theranos could have just done two or three tests on a chip, say, A1C and Insulin levels for a couple of bucks to start, she would have financed the next step and made extra on the doc in the box equipment upgrades every two years.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 07, 2026 08:18 PM (rbvCR)

77 | It was a solution in search of a problem.

Now that is definitely not true.

If you had a machine that would do any lab test and it cost about a $1 to run? It would absolutely transform medicine, save lives, etc.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:19 PM (K40fF)

78 None of the two guys in contention to be the next Bond have any Bondiness to them.

They really need to get back to the tongue in cheek, Roger Moore era Bond.

Make it just short of slapstick and you’ll have a hit.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at November 07, 2026 08:20 PM (XV/Pl)

79 I think Henry Carville would be a good Bond too

Posted by: Skip at November 07, 2026 08:20 PM (Ia/+0)

80

Keep giving assholes who want to destroy our country your money.

Most of them are illerate and parrot what their pr people what them want to say.

Spend quality time with your family, get a hobby.

Posted by: four seasons at November 07, 2026 08:20 PM (/QHx4)

81 77 | It was a solution in search of a problem.

Now that is definitely not true.

If you had a machine that would do any lab test and it cost about a $1 to run? It would absolutely transform medicine, save lives, etc.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:19 PM (K40fF)

Even if not perfect or as advanced as a real lab, it would be the thing to send to the 3rd world as aid...if it worked at all...

Posted by: Nova Local at November 07, 2026 08:21 PM (Gb7+b)

82 78 None of the two guys in contention to be the next Bond have any Bondiness to them.

They really need to get back to the tongue in cheek, Roger Moore era Bond.

Make it just short of slapstick and you’ll have a hit.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at November 07, 2026 08:20 PM (XV/Pl)

On one of the streams I watched today someone said 'Pierce Brosnan NOW ooozes more Bond than any of these guys.'

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 08:21 PM (Y/06r)

83 80

Keep giving assholes who want to destroy our country your money.

Most of them are illerate and parrot what their pr people what them want to say.

Spend quality time with your family, get a hobby.

Posted by: four seasons at November 07, 2026 08:20 PM (/QHx4)

What if your hobby is watching and critiquing movies?

Posted by: Nova Local at November 07, 2026 08:22 PM (Gb7+b)

84 68 I also saw Clayface, and if you don't get squeamish with cut up faces, it was a good movie showing a realistic descent into madness when Hollywood discards you b/c you aren't pretty anymore and the rest of the world shuns you b/c they are told to do so by those in power...
Posted by: Nova Local at November 07, 2026 08:13 PM (Gb7+b)

I follow a lot of my favorite actress from kid's shows on Instagram. Most are in their 20's now. Man, that's a brutal business. And constantly being in projects appealing to an audience that has TONS of choices.

One thing I've noticed is a LOT of them are now focusing on the 'stability' of a music career.

Again brutal.

Posted by: Stateless - Ralphy - 106.5 years old! Puppy at heart! at November 07, 2026 08:23 PM (Sco7b)

85
Most of them are illerate

_________

*snickers cruelly*

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 07, 2026 08:23 PM (eRlcH)

86 | If Theranos could have just done two or three tests on a chip, say, A1C and Insulin levels for a couple of bucks to start, she would have financed the next step and made extra on the doc in the box equipment upgrades every two years.

They could do 12, though not all with the needed accuracy.

This is why the media angle is so critical, I think: This was all done in a way to scare up a ton of capital, so they amped up the claims, ran the Forbes' stories, got a lot of people on board--and they had patsies in play. Then when the company went under, a bunch of fights ensued over patents, which I cannot tell whether they're for legit things or just to harass people with.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone got very rich off of Theranos.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:23 PM (K40fF)

87 I think it is also because the art of editing (in anything) has gone bye bye

I think there is a lot of that involved as well. I think about the most recent D&D movie, which was about 2.5 times as long as it needed to be. Why? They had to have a long, complicated tragic back story for EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER. And every single one of those stories had to be resolved, literally, before they could deal with the big bad guy

Cut most of those out but the absolute most critical one and you get a much more tight and entertaining movie. Save the other stories for later movies, if you catch on and can make them.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:24 PM (TMNW7)

88 | Keep giving assholes who want to destroy our country your money.

I tried, but the IRS keeps threatening to arrest me!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:25 PM (K40fF)

89 On one of the streams I watched today someone said 'Pierce Brosnan NOW ooozes more Bond than any of these guys.'

I didn't buy Daniel Craig as Bond, but when Casino Royale came out... I guess I still didn't but because of the adherence to the Ian Fleming story, it worked anyway. Except the beginning sequence of him bulldozing through a site to kill a guy he was trying to capture. That was not Bond. Bond would have done it like Johnny English.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:26 PM (TMNW7)

90
Then when the company went under, a bunch of fights ensued over patents, which I cannot tell whether they're for legit things or just to harass people with.

___________

Who knows? Things don't have to work to be patentable.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 07, 2026 08:27 PM (eRlcH)

91 Goldeneye or From Russia with Love.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 08:27 PM (Y/06r)

92 73 Re: James Bond casting:

Has anyone mentioned Clive Owens?

Is he also too old?

In which case, shouldn't resist "how old" because my vote is still Henry Cavill.
Posted by: Wenda
---
I saw an old movie of Clive's where he plays a convict allowed to do gardening on a special work release program, and I also thought "Clive would make a terrific Bond!"

I don't personally feel they're too old now, but the producers want to squeeze maybe five films out of an actor for the franchise, so they're thinking 30s or 40s.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 07, 2026 08:28 PM (kpS4V)

93 I follow a lot of my favorite actress from kid's shows on Instagram. Most are in their 20's now. Man, that's a brutal business. And constantly being in projects appealing to an audience that has TONS of choices.

Especially these days, when the jobs are drying up faster than a California reservoir. Even big name actors are fighting to get jobs. I think that's why the big push for voice acting, just to get some kind of work.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:28 PM (TMNW7)

94 I've been seeing ads for Amazon's Rings of Power on Amazon Prime. They are encouraging people to "get caught up" on Seasons 1 and 2 before Season 3 drops in a week or so.

But the people making the show have been open about the fact it's a "soft reboot" from Seasons 1 and 2 because they know the first two seasons are just awful. They've been telling people they don't need to watch the first two seasons to understand Season 3.

Not that Season 3 promises to be any better, with its "love triangle" between Sauron, Galadriel, and Celeborn.

It's going to be a hilarious dumpster fire.

I may hate watch it out of morbid curiosity.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 07, 2026 08:29 PM (s2iZv)

95 Young Frankenstein on MeTV.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at November 07, 2026 08:29 PM (X8vlu)

96 89 On one of the streams I watched today someone said 'Pierce Brosnan NOW ooozes more Bond than any of these guys.'

I didn't buy Daniel Craig as Bond, but when Casino Royale came out... I guess I still didn't but because of the adherence to the Ian Fleming story, it worked anyway. Except the beginning sequence of him bulldozing through a site to kill a guy he was trying to capture. That was not Bond. Bond would have done it like Johnny English.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:26 PM (TMNW7)

I think he was in that 'Black Adam' movie. I swear I saw his name.

Now, I"m not a comic book geek BUT I loved superhero cartoons and saw a lot of them. They're trying to get a super-hero franchise off the ground, and they go with BLACK ADAM??

The same with a lot of these superhero or villain movies. I never saw it, but I at least know who Clayface and Kraven the Hunter were. And Madame Web.

Posted by: Stateless - Ralphy - 106.5 years old! Puppy at heart! at November 07, 2026 08:29 PM (Sco7b)

97 I know this is supposed to be about films, but I remember when dad got his first one-touch and no longer had to piss on strips to get an estimate of his blood sugar. Once upon a time a blood glucose machine was something only found in an ER to sort out the drunks from the diabetics in delirium from high blood sugar, and it was considered a miracle to speed up what used to be a blood test. Now we have continuous glucose monitoring. This is damned near sorcery next to what we did in the 1940's.
Lab on a chip is a serious goal, there are enough people working on it who are convinced it will happen.

So I watched Pirates of teh Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and it had plot holes. Amusing, but there were a lot of plot holes and poor character development.
I liked the Tim Powers book better.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 07, 2026 08:29 PM (rbvCR)

98 Goldeneye or From Russia with Love.

Two of my top five Bond movies. FRWL is the best of them, the most like the books and the most spy thriller. It still retains the fantastic, but in a plausible way (as opposed to Moonraker, for example). For Your Eyes Only did it well, too.

Someone suggested having Pierce or Timothy Dalton come back to play Q instead of that fay long hair pouf that replaced the classic Q. It would be a fun twist "when I was out in the field, I would have loved to have had this..."

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:31 PM (TMNW7)

99 This movie addresses one of my special interests, British Bomber Command over the Reich. I'll probably enjoy it.

https://tinyurl.com/4myc86fn

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 08:31 PM (ndZc7)

100 None of the two guys in contention to be the next Bond have any Bondiness to them.

They really need to get back to the tongue in cheek, Roger Moore era Bond.

Make it just short of slapstick and you’ll have a hit.
Posted by: Thomas Bender

No. Everything must be darker and grittier and more tragic and, at its brightest, morally gray. Bond as Anti-Hero is the formula.

Posted by: Hollywood for the past 20 years at November 07, 2026 08:32 PM (VHUov)

101 So I watched Pirates of teh Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and it had plot holes. Amusing, but there were a lot of plot holes and poor character development.
I liked the Tim Powers book better.
Posted by: Kindltot at November 07, 2026 08:29 PM (rbvCR)
-----
I'm not surprised the book is better. Seems like Disney just needed to steal an IP and wrap it in a skinsuit of "Pirates of the Caribbean" to sell tickets.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 07, 2026 08:32 PM (s2iZv)

102 Maybe they can do an "Expendables"-style riff with all the old Bond actors. I would watch that!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 07, 2026 08:34 PM (kpS4V)

103 They're trying to get a super-hero franchise off the ground, and they go with BLACK ADAM??

I kinda liked that movie but yeah, that's not something you try to build a franchise with but then neither is Peacemaker, Supergirl, Creature Commandos and Gorilla Grodd with Jimmy Olson.

I figure there's LSD in the water cooler at Warner Brothers.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:34 PM (TMNW7)

104 Here's how you do new Bond - Do the whole movie without showing Bond. Just follow the Bond Villain, say Tom Holland in a tux. He's up to eeevuhl, selling faulty cleft chin implants to the NHS and killing puppies. Lots of pearls are clutched, M and Q are wondering where is Bond? Will the puppies die? That's when the Supervillain's girlfriend, played by Zendaya, shoots him twice behind the ear and reveals herself as 007.

Posted by: Bilwis - Wizard of Clwyd at November 07, 2026 08:35 PM (r7+Q7)

105 So I watched Pirates of teh Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and it had plot holes. Amusing, but there were a lot of plot holes and poor character development.

-
A Pirates Comeback Isn’t Enough: Johnny Depp Wants More Than Just Another Sequel

-
I have no idea what this means.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 08:35 PM (ndZc7)

106 What if your hobby is watching and critiquing movies?
Posted by: Nova Local at November 07, 2026 08:22 PM (Gb7+b)
----
The guy's got a point.

Conservatives spending time and money to critique movies as a hobby is a bit like a black guy going out of his way to attend a Klan rally to comment on the quality of the cross-burning, as a hobby.

Posted by: ballistic at November 07, 2026 08:36 PM (oqH4h)

107 I'm not surprised the book is better. Seems like Disney just needed to steal an IP and wrap it in a skinsuit of "Pirates of the Caribbean" to sell tickets.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 07, 2026 08:32 PM (s2iZv)

Tim Powers says that he got the idea from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in the first place. He also wrote the story just because Lester Del Rey kept rejecting his books.
Disney got burned on stealing IP for the first three movies, so apparently they paid Tim Powers for the option. The story of Jack Shandy, Puppeteer extraordinary would have been difficult to shoe-horn in with Jack Sparrow

Posted by: Kindltot at November 07, 2026 08:36 PM (rbvCR)

108 No. Everything must be darker and grittier and more tragic and, at its brightest, morally gray. Bond as Anti-Hero is the formula.

With Villeneuve as the director I expect that. I don't want Roger Moore goofy crap but I don't want misery and slow, plodding Le Carre Bond, either.

Maybe they can do an "Expendables"-style riff with all the old Bond actors

There's two billion dollars in that.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:37 PM (TMNW7)

109 Maybe they can do an "Expendables"-style riff with all the old Bond actors

There's two billion dollars in that.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:37 PM (TMNW7)

Connery: Dead
Lazenby: Dead?
Moore: Dead
Dalton: Alive
Brosnan: Alive

I WOULD pay damn good money to have seen those five in a movie together.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 08:39 PM (Y/06r)

110 That woman in the top, first picture has a completely remanufactured face. It is repulsive or frightening, take your pick.
Howdy Doodie looks more human.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at November 07, 2026 08:39 PM (C0oZI)

111 Back in the day I thought Gerard Butler would have made a fine James Bond.

Posted by: Tuna at November 07, 2026 08:39 PM (lJ0H4)

112 With Villeneuve as the director I expect that. I don't want Roger Moore goofy crap but I don't want misery and slow, plodding Le Carre Bond, either.
[ . . . ]
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:37 PM (TMNW7)

I for one am excited at the prospect of Zendaya as a Bond-Girl.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 07, 2026 08:40 PM (rbvCR)

113 Lazenby is still alive but he's 87 with Dementia Daniel Craig is still alive as well of course.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:40 PM (TMNW7)

114 Connery: Dead
Lazenby: Dead?
Moore: Dead
Dalton: Alive
Brosnan: Alive

I WOULD pay damn good money to have seen those five in a movie together.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 08:39 PM (Y/06r)
----

We can fix it in post!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 07, 2026 08:41 PM (kpS4V)

115
My understanding is that the fundamental problem with Theranos technology was getting a representative sample in a tiny amount of blood. The lab-on-a-chip technology already existed, and the problem with getting a representative sample of blood at a tiny scale was a well-known issue that nobody had solved.

The other issues, i.e. misrepresentation to investors, the faked results, attracting prominent men who should have known better to the corporate board, were downstream of that.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at November 07, 2026 08:41 PM (azNOR)

116 After looking at episode synopses, I decided not to bother with Amazon's new Carrie series. My brother said he looked at a couple of episodes and bailed out on it. No idea what everyone was thinking when they greenlit that one.

Mike Flanagan's a bit erratic. Thought there was some nice stuff in his Haunting of Hill House and Haunting of Bly Manor. Midnight Mass was a misfire IMHO. Oculus was interesting (worth a watch just for Karen Gillan). He did a nice job blending Stephen King's work with Kubrick's version of The Shining for Doctor Sleep. Liked Life of Chuck. I thought Gerald's Game was unfilmable when I read it umpteen years ago, but seemed to me Flanagan did a pretty good job on it.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 07, 2026 08:42 PM (q3u5l)

117 getting a representative sample

-
2020 did a show last night on JonBenet that came close to promising us an answer in the next five or six months based on new DNA procecures.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 08:45 PM (ndZc7)

118 Back in the day I thought Gerard Butler would have made a fine James Bond.

Yeah his career puzzles me. After 300 the guy could pretty well write his own ticket but he made some forgettable action things and romantic movies and disappeared. He could have been a good Bond, I think.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:45 PM (TMNW7)

119 Connery: Dead
Lazenby: Dead?
Moore: Dead
Dalton: Alive
Brosnan: Alive

I WOULD pay damn good money to have seen those five in a movie together.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at November 07, 2026 08:39 PM (Y/06r)

Lazenby's still kicking it at 87...

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 07, 2026 08:46 PM (iIyc0)

120 No idea what everyone was thinking when they greenlit that one.

Turning Carrie into a cute girl with friends in control of her telekinesis was a choice, its true.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:46 PM (TMNW7)

121 Oops, missed Chris's posting.

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 07, 2026 08:46 PM (iIyc0)

122 Siena Agudong is in the new 'Carrie' series. She was also in a REALLY bad Tubi horror movie a month or so ago.

She was someone I thought would work consistently. But it probably helps not to be in crap.

Posted by: Stateless - Ralphy - 106.5 years old! Puppy at heart! at November 07, 2026 08:47 PM (Sco7b)

123 The "TCM Remembers" video is going to be sad this year. I know I say that every year, but we're losing some big names.

Patrick Stewart, Dolly Parton, Robert Duvall, Catherine O'Hara, Tim Curry, Sam Neill, Eva Marie Saint, Chuck Norris, etc.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 07, 2026 08:48 PM (kpS4V)

124 The other issues, i.e. misrepresentation to investors, the faked results, attracting prominent men who should have known better to the corporate board, were downstream of that.
Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at November 07, 2026 08:41 PM (azNOR)

Lying to investors is what put her in jail. Defrauding people like Kissinger's investment team was just the cherry on top.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 07, 2026 08:49 PM (rbvCR)

125 Well in 10 years if we make it that far, well be able to tell AI to make us a spy movie with all the bond actors working together to solve a case.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:49 PM (TMNW7)

126 I saw Lazenby live at a showing of OHMSS in 2018. I will never recover.

https://tinyurl.com/3eh82fsv

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:49 PM (K40fF)

127 I would like to see this because everyone says it's fascinating. I guess Im confused about Fiedler. I only know that he has some funny videos where he punks people or deadpans through bizarre situations. Sort of like Sascha Baron Cohen without the theatrics. How/why did he come to be involved with this project?

Posted by: Lex at November 07, 2026 08:50 PM (y4H1r)

128 Lazenby looks like the Squire of Gothos in that frilly shirt.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 07, 2026 08:51 PM (kpS4V)

129 The other issues, i.e. misrepresentation to investors, the faked results, attracting prominent men who should have known better to the corporate board, were downstream of that.
--
This whole thing does not pass the smell test. There's no excuse for falling for any of it, and I'm unconvinced that the reason people attract official ire for things isn't just because, like Martha Stewart (or Randy Weaver for that matter), an official or someone with connections to an official gets a bug up his butt.

Any of this is easily testable. Somebody got embarrassed.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:53 PM (K40fF)

130 128 Lazenby looks like the Squire of Gothos in that frilly shirt.

Yup. 1968, baby!

| How/why did he come to be involved with this project?

The reason we're given is that "He thinks outside the box."

I think it was a good call. I am completely unfamiliar with his work, however.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:54 PM (K40fF)

131 Supposedly George Lazenby wanted to play James Bond so he went down to Albert Broccoli's office, charmed/BS'ed his way in to see him and convinced Albert to give him a shot. I thought he did a pretty good job. Then he decided Bond was old fashioned and lame and dullsville man, and left the job to be part of the Swinging London scene.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 07, 2026 08:58 PM (TMNW7)

132 I'd go with From Russia with Love as the best Bond flick. Don't know that I'd care to try ranking the rest, but if I had to I'd give a fairly high spot in the list to Never Say Never Again. Connery was, of course, getting pretty long in the tooth for the part but they had fun playing with that fact in the movie and it worked nicely.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 07, 2026 08:58 PM (q3u5l)

133 64- There's almost certainly a way to reach the goal, but it's not going to be as simple as "lab in a box".
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 08:11 PM

I followed this story very closely at the time.While my memory has faded on some of the more minute details, I clearly recall that Elizabeth Holmes was no victim. She was friends with Chelsea Clinton at Stanford, which gave her entree to the illuminati who ended up on the board of directors. She received an insane amount of glowing press but very little investigation into whether the technology actually worked. Any time questions were raised, the "stellar" board of directors was used as a shield. George Shultz's grandson,Tyler, was the first whistleblower and they tried to destroy his life. Shultz turned his back on his grandson. The lab-in-a-box didn't have flaws, it simply didn't work. This was not an effort to steal patents or technology. It was a scam. Just my opinion but I believe that Elizabeth Holmes is a sociopathic hustler.

Posted by: Moonbeam at November 07, 2026 08:59 PM (Lzhdy)

134 | Yeah his career puzzles me. After 300 the guy could pretty well write his own ticket but he made some forgettable action things and romantic movies and disappeared.

"300" may have been unforgivable. Especially considering he followed it with "Machine Gun Preacher," which I think is terribly under-rated.

https://moviegique.com/reviews/machine-gun-preacher/

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 09:00 PM (K40fF)

135 "Moonraker" was too silly to be a good Bond film.

They're all over the top, but should operate within the gutter bumpers of cinematic Cold War spy ballin'.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at November 07, 2026 09:02 PM (kpS4V)

136 Short video of Polish cop putting the hurt on the Krakow shooter despite being wounded himself and collapsing a few seconds later. Go to 0:55.

https://tinyurl.com/2t9y8hrh

And now for a bit of a mindf*ck regarding the shooter.

https://tinyurl.com/bdfjzcda

I don't understand anything anymore.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent at November 07, 2026 09:03 PM (ndZc7)

137 "Mike Flanagan's a bit erratic. Thought there was some nice stuff in his Haunting of Hill House and Haunting of Bly Manor. "

I thought his "Fall of the House of Usher" series on Netflix was very good.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at November 07, 2026 09:08 PM (FZzOq)

138 I've heard Flanagan's House of Usher is pretty good, but by the time it came out I'd cancelled my Netflix. Will catch that one eventually but who knows when.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 07, 2026 09:10 PM (q3u5l)

139 | She was friends with Chelsea Clinton at Stanford, which gave her entree to the illuminati who ended up on the board of directors.

Well, that explains a lot, doesn't it? People lose their money, get defrauded, etc., all the time. But the whole machine powered up to put Holmes on this track, and it had to chew her up to make an example out of her.

(I'm not challenging your view of her as a sociopath, though. It's not the impression I got but I just watched a sorta documentary.)

Back when we were all nearly 13, I posted an essay here on Cargo Cults which, upon reflection, seems almost charmingly naive.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at November 07, 2026 09:10 PM (K40fF)

140 The other issues, i.e. misrepresentation to investors, the faked results, attracting prominent men who should have known better to the corporate board, were downstream of that.
Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at November 07, 2026 08:41 PM (azNOR)

being in with the highest levels of politics by being friends with their spawn would probably give one a poor understanding of how actual finance and research actually works, as opposed to the self-dealing that the highest levels of politics and captured finance actually operates on now.
She may well have been too thick to understand that both a) yes this is how the world works, and b) it is only an option for them who is already made and not for her.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 07, 2026 09:10 PM (rbvCR)

141 If he were still around and writing, can you imagine the fun John D. MacDonald would have had writing novels using contemporary financial/political fraud and scamming as backgrounds?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at November 07, 2026 09:13 PM (q3u5l)

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