1. Alexander Payne + Paul Giamatti = devastatingly delivered, hysterically wrought dialogue by charmingly flawed characters. The formula worked to perfection with Sideways and that same cinematic math works out in The Holdovers. Giamatti plays an even more pretentious teacher, aspiring author than he did in Sideways, which requires a bit of simmering before it gets cooking. Still, the incredulity of Giamatti and his obsession with projecting ancient civilizations at this decaying prep school as superior contrasted during Vietnam era America makes for some beautifully hilarious moments, both out of emotional deafness and rage with a big vocabulary. The humanity of Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa’s performances as two characters doomed to “hold over” during winter break with Giamatti only further highlight another signature Giamatti tragicomic performance. Don’t be surprised to see an Oscar nomination for Screenplay here.
2. Stephen Colbert got appendicitis leading to a ruptured appendix and thus, there is no Late Show this week. Thankfully, Stephen Colbert is OK and recovering and both Kimmel and The Daily Show are going to get your late night fix. Of all the reasons to go off the air in 2023, can you believe it’s not COVID?
3. With as clever and innovative as the anime spin-off/sequel/adaptation Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is, the creators of this iteration of Scott Pilgrim are happy to keep their timelines right where they are, contained within one season (Rolling Stone). The MCU would do well to take a cue here.
4. Rob Reiner has confirmed that This Is Spinal Tap 2 will commence filming in early 2024 (Deadline). With Reiner in charge, we’d hope for a sequel that lives up to the cult status of the original film, but it’ll be a curious see another Spinal Tap movie after nearly two decades of mockumentaries being some of the most lauded and most watched works in comedy (as opposed to being something groundbreaking in 1984). We hope Reiner has something truly special up his sleeve.
5. We’ll leave you with this: a sign that you’ve been in showbiz for a long time is forgetting what you ringtone sounds like because your phone is eternally set to silent or vibrate.