Eric Vilas-Boas
@ericvb.bsky.social
1.6K followers 510 following 420 posts
@vulture.com editor, writer, union member, cartoon connoisseur “i’m not a miracle worker, i’m a janitor”
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ericvb.bsky.social
with more folks on bluesky, a re-introduction! I'm an entertainment journalist, currently editing at Vulture. I cover streaming and animation, mostly, and I'm a big fan of physical media and old-school anime.

Here are five recentish pieces I was happy with...
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
coreybrickley.bsky.social
ye see this shits not inevitable never give up in advance
moreperfectunion.bsky.social
Microsoft has withdrawn its proposal for a data center in a Milwaukee suburbs after community pushback.

After opposition from area residents and elected officials the 244 acre Caledonia project will not proceed.
Microsoft drops Caledonia data center after facing opposition. Company looking for new site
Outcry from residents and elected officials caused Microsoft to drop the Caledonia plan. But the company is seeking an alternative site.
www.jsonline.com
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
scumbelievable.bsky.social
I don't like him personally, but David Simon on AI is the final word on the subject.
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
katzish.bsky.social
Got a recent Pulitzer for warning on the spread of autocracy around the globe, after decades of service to the paper? You can bet your butt you're getting laid off by form email, on Yom Kippur
davejorgenson.bsky.social
The Post laid off seemingly the remaining of their liberal-leaning staff members on Opinion last Thursday, when some of them were observing Yom Kippur.

from @oliverdarcy.bsky.social for Status
status.news/p/washington-post-opinion-cuts-adam-oneal
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
For what it’s worth:

Speaking as a showrunner with two writers rooms going on now, this article from Ankler is insane. I don’t know who the insider is, but the reporter should call bullshit. This is a GPT press release.
theankler.com
The “GPT-5 pass” has gone from curiosity to mandate. Scripts, trailers, pitch decks are all being filtered through an AI model that remembers every draft and forgets what originality looks like. @erikbarmack.bsky.social on Hollywood’s uneasy reset:
theankler.com/p/run-it-thr...
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
animeherald.com
The Studio Orange Staff Talks With Anime Herald: Seth Burn talked with members from acclaimed anime studio Orange. They discuss their work on titles like Beastars and Trigun Stampede, the evolution of CGI anime, working with Joe Hisaishi for Leviathan, and more.

#anime
The Studio Orange Staff Talks With Anime Herald
"It’s definitely part of our intention to make sure that people are more familiar with what CGI animation possibly can do."
hera.fyi
ericvb.bsky.social
" The tension at the heart of both The Exorcist and First Reformed is what happens when you start to pray with your eyes open. To lament and supplicate in a specific context, aware of how indirect and futile an effort it seems to be...."

this is the good stuff
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
davejorgenson.bsky.social
The Post laid off seemingly the remaining of their liberal-leaning staff members on Opinion last Thursday, when some of them were observing Yom Kippur.

from @oliverdarcy.bsky.social for Status
status.news/p/washington-post-opinion-cuts-adam-oneal
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
2501zoe.bsky.social
this movie probs has the best character acting animation ive ever seen n at least half of it is from hana my emotionally gifted expressive queen
ani-obsessive.bsky.social
Pencil and final animation: Tokyo Godfathers (2003), dir. Satoshi Kon, Madhouse

Animation by Shinji Otsuka
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
ultralaser.bsky.social
fucked up that this is all just landlords swatting their own buildings to get rid of all the working class residents so they can raise the rent or sell to a developer who'll flip them into high end condos or w/e

like it's a real estate scam! it's a fucking land grab! a fire for the insurance money!
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
There’s a lot in here that deserves a pull quote, but this is the most egregious. I need people to recognize the gravity of the situation here in Chicago;
SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
Donate

"The ones that are getting out are coming home to no home," Watson said.
According to her, after the raid occurred, building management stole or threw out residents belongings, including visas and important documents.

ICIRR is still trying to determine the identities of all the people detained in the raid. Castro said that the organization usually can do that by following up with family members or loved ones. "In this instance, there was nobody left to work with," she said. The only detainee name they're sure of is that of a person who passed their Venezuelan passport to a neighbor as they were being taken away.
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
roko-wt.bsky.social
since people liked this on twitter #utena #rgu #art
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
keithwdickinson.bsky.social
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
amano-jack.bsky.social
Just in case someone missed this detail:
Wells Fargo used the ICE orks to clear out a building of lawful residents to make a buck

Again, a military terror purge was carried out with naked children in handcuffs for the benefit of Wells Fargo execs

A corrupt corp that will bleat at any reciprocity
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
tomscocca.bsky.social
It's not just that they're going to strike down a law against conversion therapy, it's that they're going to do it on behalf of made-up claims from a straw plaintiff who can't honestly show the law affected her at all
tomscocca.bsky.social
One thing about American's widespread distrust and disapproval of the Supreme Court is that mainstream news coverage mostly doesn't dwell on stuff like standing, so people don't even begin to grasp how rigged the Court truly is www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...
Supreme Court Live Updates: Justices Seem Set to Rule Against Colorado’s Ban on Conversion Therapy
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
tressiemcphd.bsky.social
I just…I can’t believe we haven’t made stronger norms around this stuff
annabookwriter.bsky.social
Just saw a care home employee post a video of one of her charges dancing when she thought she was alone and care providers, you really need to…well, CARE about your patients’ privacy! My grandma would have been mortified.

Kids, elders, and disabled people aren’t your content.
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
decodingfoxnews.bsky.social
Last week Jesse Watters spoke to man named Eric who claimed he was formerly a member of antifa. Two years ago Watters interviewed Ramon "Mundo" Mendoza, a former Mexican Mafia member. Some folks thought the men looked similar. This is a side by side comparison. 🤷‍♀️
ericvb.bsky.social
probably the best of the franchise tbh
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
lordravenscraft.bsky.social
the NYTimes, which is currently suing OpenAI for stealing its content, has advice for screenwriters who want to use AI:

cliche dialogue exists, therefore a bot that steals from writers and regurgitates terrible dialogue is totally fine. in fact, why not abandon your standards entirely!
NYT headline: "I'm a Screenwriter. Is It All Right if I Use A.I.?" I write for television, both series and movies. Much

of my work is historical or fact-based, and I have found that researching with ChatGPT makes Googling feel like driving to the library, combing the card catalog, ordering books and waiting weeks for them to arrive. This new tool has been a game changer. Then I began feeding ChatGPT my scripts and asking for feedback. The notes on consistency, clarity and narrative build were extremely helpful. Recently I went one step further: I asked it to write a couple of scenes. In seconds, they appeared - quick paced, emotional, funny, driven by a propulsive heartbeat, with dialogue that sounded like real people talking. With a few tweaks, I could drop them straight into a screenplay. So what ethical line would I be crossing? Would it be plagiarism? Theft? Misrepresentation? I wonder

what you think. - Name Withheld From the Ethicist:

"We're done here." Some years ago, sleepless in a hotel room, I flicked through TV channels and landed on three or four shows in which someone was making that declaration, maybe thunderously, maybe in an ominous hush. "We have nothing more to discuss." "This conversation is over!" Do people really talk like that? Possibly, if they've watched enough television.

My point is that a good deal of scripted TV has long felt pretty algorithmic, an ecosystem of heavily recycled tropes. In a sitcom, the person others are discussing pipes up with "I'm right here!" After a meeting goes off the rails, someone must deadpan, "That went well." In a drama, a furious character must sweep everything off the desk. And so on. For some, A.I. is another soulless contraption we should toss aside, like a politician in the movies who stops reading, crumples the pages and starts speaking from the heart. (How many times have we seen that one?) But human beings have been churning out prefab dialogue and scene structures for generations without artificial assistance. Few seem to mind. You have no cause to apologize.

Does the entertainment industry? It was hooked on formula, as I've stressed, long before the L.L.M.s arrived. Some contrivances endure simply because they're legible, efficient and easy to execute. Take the one where one character has news to share with another, but is interrupted by the other's news, which gives the first character reason not to share her own news. Then comes the inevitable: "So what was it you wanted to tell me?" Ulp! Writers have flogged that one for decades; why wouldn't a bot cough it up? The truth is that many viewers cherish familiarity and prefer shows, especially soaps and franchise fare, to deliver surprises in unsurprising ways. Still, there will always be an audience for work that spurns the template - for writers who, shall we say, think outside the bot.

That's the bigger story. In the day-to-day life of a working writer, the question is less abstract. If people press you about your A.I. policy, point to the guild's rules. Tell them that every page you submit reads the way you want it to. Then announce: We're done here.
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
samadams.bsky.social
The real reason Daniel Day-Lewis came out of retirement was so that @isaacbutler.bsky.social could write about him
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
clarajeffery.bsky.social
As bad as this headline is, the details are worse. Russel Vought is trying to roll back SS for the elderly, the disabled, the widowed and orphaned and FURTHER cut food stamps. Make sure to read and share this gift link: wapo.st/4qa8yoq
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
lyndab08.bsky.social
This video was taken by a local resident who reportedly saw a man being beaten by ICE agents at 37th and Kedzie.
Reposted by Eric Vilas-Boas
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
It does in fact sound quite bizarre to me, which is why I hope reporters on the ground can help provide some details soon.
warrenterra.bsky.social
Their story is that they shot and wounded a woman, who supposedly had her own gun and was perceived as a threat, and then that woman drove herself to the hospital?

Doesn't that sound bizarre? How is that the conclusion to an incident in which federal agents shoot someone, claiming self defense?