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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 3d

Oops I never shared the review. Sorry. Just getting a head start on forgetting I ever saw this. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...

‘Monster’ Season 3 Review: Even ‘Ed Gein’ Doesn’t Want You to Watch This ‘Story’

Netflix's 'Monster' again attempts to humanize a serial killer — Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein — while blaming viewers for its own nauseating choices.

www.indiewire.com

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Reposted by Ben Travers

Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 4d

Really loved Rebecca Miller’s Martin Scorsese documentary, “Mr. Scorsese” — which, among other highlights, features a plainly uncomfortable Leonardo DiCaprio saying the words “a woman’s buttocks” while breaking down the opening shot of “The Wolf of Wall Street.” www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...

‘Mr. Scorsese’ Review: A Vivid, Studied, Enormously Entertaining Portrait of a Cinematic ‘Cornerstone’

The Martin Scorsese documentary series deftly mines his angels and demons in interviews with Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and the man himself.

www.indiewire.com

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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 3d

They ruined Google search for nothing

John Gramlich @johngramlich.bsky.social · 3d

So far at least, Americans are lukewarm about AI summaries in search results. Relatively few who have seen them think they're extremely or very useful (20%) or have a lot of trust in the information they get from them (6%). New data from @pewresearch.org: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Bar chart showing that 20% of Americans who have seen AI summaries in search results believe these summaries are extremely or very useful. Far more (52%) see them as somewhat useful, while 28% see them as not too or not at all useful. The chart is based on an August 2025 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults.

Bar chart showing that 6% of Americans who have seen AI summaries in search results have a lot of trust in the information they get from these summaries. Another 48% have some trust in this information, while 34% have not too much trust and 12% have no trust at all. The chart is based on an August 2025 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults.

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 3d

I didn’t write much about the performances in “Monster” Season 3, in part because they’re the least of its problems and in part because of this. (And, as always, because I’d already written 1000+ words.)

Richard Lawson @rilaws.bsky.social · 3d

“Let me hire all my favorite actresses and allow them space to give the worst performances of their careers” - Ryan Murphy

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 4d

Really loved Rebecca Miller’s Martin Scorsese documentary, “Mr. Scorsese” — which, among other highlights, features a plainly uncomfortable Leonardo DiCaprio saying the words “a woman’s buttocks” while breaking down the opening shot of “The Wolf of Wall Street.” www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...

‘Mr. Scorsese’ Review: A Vivid, Studied, Enormously Entertaining Portrait of a Cinematic ‘Cornerstone’

The Martin Scorsese documentary series deftly mines his angels and demons in interviews with Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and the man himself.

www.indiewire.com

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 5d

“Well, sheeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiit!”
[complimentary]

Alan Sepinwall @sepinwall.bsky.social · 5d

Announcement that I'll be writing a book about The Wire, tentatively titled All in the Game: The Complete Critical Companion to The Wire

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Reposted by Ben Travers

James Poniewozik @poniewozik.bsky.social · 7d

MOUNTAINHEAD (2025), dir. Jesse Armstrong

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 7d

I spent some time with OpenAI's new AI video app Sora. Not just slop but ragebait, fake crimes and women splattered with white goo. The implications of all of this are horrifying.

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Reposted by Ben Travers

John Carpenter’s ‘Halloran’ @profhalloran.bsky.social · 8d

This should be a regime ending moment.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Trump: "The ones that are run by radical left Democrats -- what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They're very unsafe places & we're gonna straighten them out one by one. This is gonna be a major part for some people in this room. That's a war too. It's war from within"

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 12d

Appreciate @katerbland.bsky.social including my (deranged) take in this, considering I clearly didn't understand the assignment. www.indiewire.com/features/gen...

Even IndieWire’s Own Staff Cannot Agree on the Best Format for Seeing ‘One Battle After Another’

Confused? Heck, even IndieWire's staff can't settle on one preferred format.

www.indiewire.com

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 14d

Also nice: bsky.app/profile/tvmo...

TVMoJoe @tvmojoe.bsky.social · 14d

BOOM! The return of JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE averaged 6.26 million same-day viewers Tuesday, despite not being available in nearly one-fourth the country’s TV homes. It appears to be Kimmel’s most-watched episode ever.

www.vulture.com/article/jimm...

Well, That Was the Most-Watched Jimmy Kimmel Live! Ever

6.26 million people not named Brendan Carr tuned in for the late-night host’s much-anticipated return to TV.

www.vulture.com

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 14d

Wrote about good people doing good things amid bad times, and how nice it feels, even for a night, when resistance is rewarded rather than punished. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...

Jimmy Kimmel Made Himself Unassailable — Will That Be Enough?

In his emotional return to 'Jimmy Kimmel Live,' Jimmy Kimmel delivered a strong show and an even stronger monologue, proving he's not the enemy here.

www.indiewire.com

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Reposted by Ben Travers

the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 16d

watching kimmel tomorrow

Clive Owen and the gang watching TV in 'Children of Men'

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Reposted by Ben Travers

TVMoJoe @tvmojoe.bsky.social · 16d

NEW: JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE is not dead.

Up now at @vulture.com

www.vulture.com/article/jimm...

Jimmy Kimmel Live! Will Return to TV Tomorrow

The news comes almost a week after it was pulled from airing on ABC “indefinitely.”

www.vulture.com

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 17d

Still thinking about this one. www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...

‘Long Story Short’ Review: Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s Time-Hopping Family Sitcom Is a Tender Knockout

Bouncing between the absurd joys and poignant moments of daily life, the Netflix series 'Long Story Short' tracks the Schwooper family across decades.

www.indiewire.com

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 19d

The New York Times’ review of “Anthem” argues the book works to empower teenagers even as the narrative sees many of them die. “Instead of making teenagers the victims, Hawley gives them agency and power in a collapsing world.”

The same could be said for “Alien: Earth.”

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Reposted by Ben Travers

Emily "Babe" St. James @emilystjams.bsky.social · 19d

Not to excuse Disney's actions -- which are an unconscionable capitulation and an abandonment of first amendment principles -- but I think people just genuinely do not understand how much power affiliates wield in the broadcast TV game. Still! To this day!

Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 19d

Affiliate power is nothing new. The TV show Turn-On effectively got cancelled in the middle of its first episode in 1969 because of an affiliate revolt. I wrote a couple of pieces about it a few years ago.

tedium.co/2023/08/04/g...

Turn-On History: An Infamous Show Hits YouTube

The infamous cancelled-during-the-first-episode show, a lost-media legend, is on YouTube, which makes it the perfect time to analyze its legacy.

tedium.co

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Reposted by Ben Travers

The TCA @tvcritics.org · 19d

TCA condemns ABC and Disney’s capitulation to the government’s demands of censorship.

Television Critics Association

The Television Critics Association (TCA) condemns ABC's indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which is the latest in a series of actions aimed at silencing critics of the Trump administration.

The Walt Disney Company's capitulation to the demands of the FCC chair this week represents a wanton disregard of the First Amendment's guarantee to a right for people and the press to speak without government retribution.
TCA stands with the Writers Guild of America, which said in a statement it is "united in opposition to anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent," and SAG-AFTRA, which said this "is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone's freedoms."

The government attempting to punish creatives, writers, and/or journalists for speech that officials do not like is authoritarianism. Corporations that profit from the words of television stars, writers, and journalists must defend their employees from governmental pressure, which is different from setting their own creative and editorial standards.

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Matt Belloni @mattbelloni.bsky.social · 20d

LOST writer-producer Damon Lindelof says he won’t work with Disney unless Kimmel js reinstated. I’m hearing other talent weighing similar pledges.

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 21d

Dan, come on — it clearly says (on the posters in his office) that his full name is "The Brofessional."

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 21d

For those of you watching "Alien: Earth" — and especially if you also read Noah Hawley's last book, "Anthem" — a long talk about kids! www.indiewire.com/features/int...

‘Alien: Earth’: Noah Hawley on Wendy’s New Ability and Why Kids Are ‘the Heart of This Story’

'Alien: Earth' creator Noah Hawley on his personal ties to 'Alien' and what's ahead for Wendy: "There are consequences to all of this power."

www.indiewire.com

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 21d

After three seasons of batshit nonsense, Season 4 commits "The Morning Show's" last indefensible sin: It's a snoozefest! 🥱 🛌

Kate Erbland @katerbland.bsky.social · 21d

Hazard pay for @bentravers.bsky.social, ASAP: www.indiewire.com/criticism/sh...

‘The Morning Show’ Review: Season 4 Is Both Utterly Nonsensical and Numbingly Monotonous

After sending Reese Witherspoon to space and Jennifer Aniston to Elon Musk, "The Morning Show" Season 4 scales things back... and gets boring.

www.indiewire.com

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Reposted by Ben Travers

James Poniewozik @poniewozik.bsky.social · 22d

OK, not even getting into the ethics or the existential issues around AI: Have some goddamn self-respect. If you're a writer and you do this I don't know how you look at yourself, but I know exactly how I look at you.

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 22d

Scoop: Business Insider informed its staff this week that they are allowed to use ChatGPT to generate first drafts of their stories, while also indicating the newsroom will not disclose such A.I. use to readers.

Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/business-i...

Business Insider and the Bots

The Axel Springer-owned newsroom is buzzing over new ChatGPT writing guidelines—part of an aggressive A.I. strategy pushed by its German parentco and detailed in a memo obtained by Status.

www.status.news

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 22d

Reading Alan is as essential as it gets if you want to know what’s going on in television and the culture at large.

That he’s also a pleasure to read is like a nice little favor he does for everyone, so let’s not take it for granted, OK? Subscribe —> alansepinwall.ghost.io/dont-stop-be...

Don't stop believing

Some news, as they say

alansepinwall.ghost.io

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Reposted by Ben Travers

Alan Sepinwall @sepinwall.bsky.social · 22d

Some news: yesterday was my last at Rolling Stone. For now, I'm going solo, doing all my TV reviewing, recapping, etc., at my newsletter. I hope you'll consider subscribing. Many more details here:

Don't stop believing

Some news, as they say

alansepinwall.ghost.io

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Ben Travers @bentravers.bsky.social · 23d

"The Emmys, for two years in a row and too many years overall, have felt driven more by embarrassment for existing than pride for the mission at hand."

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