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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · 7h

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.

The Ankler @theankler.com · 1d

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...

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · 2d

Yep. Completely agree. A lot of fun. Weird about the reviews. I think they thought it was a Girls-like Voice of a Generation show; and when they didn’t get that, they thought it was inadequate. When in fact what was inadequate was their expectation.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · 3d

The theater is called Performance Space New York. It’s on First.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · 3d

COLOR THEORIES. Funniest play I’ve seen in a long time. Julio Torres is wonderful. His play is about the personality of colors and how they describe and influence us. That sounds pretentious, but the play is anything but. Every line gets a laugh. See it. Julio’s funniest work yet.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · 11d

The thoughts I have can’t really be summarized in such short bites. But my review can. And the second season is just as good as the first.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · 11d

The second season of ENGLISH TEACHER is here and it’s very funny. It continues to deal with current issues: censorship, tech domination, COVID, but it uses them all as comic fodder. The funniest show of the year, and it’s got a lot of competition.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · 15d

‘Rack’s Rules” is an excellent short story by Jeremy Larner (THE CANDIDATE) in the collection, “Sex, Death, and God in LA.” It’s about the crude power rules of a Mike Ovitz type. It’s still incredibly pertinent today. You’ll find the same thoughts flowing through Trump and Musk. Look for it.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · 28d

Not sure I’m understanding the rationale for AI generated movies.

Cost of CRITTERZ: 30 million
Cost of WEAPONS (which just made 257 million at the box office): 38 million.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Sep 4

K-POP DEMON HUNTERS. Funny. I understand why people are watching it over and over. It moves fast and the songs are catchy. I love the scene with the mystical cat knocking over a flower pot. A lot of wit in the animation. Great work from the director/writers, Maggie Kang and Chris Applehans.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Aug 31

WEAPONS. A very entertaining movie. It starts with a Twilight Zone premise, but then keeps turning over new cards. A surprising number of laughs. Beautifully shot. Great writing. From the brilliant writer/director, Zach Cregger. See it.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Aug 26

Proudly sleazy, HUNTING WIVES is BIG LITTLE LIES with guns. The show’s amorality is to be admired. Everybody is happily sleeping with everyone; just don’t call it an “open marriage” because that’s a liberal thing. The subculture of performative Christianity is well-observed.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Aug 26

Jerry Adler died last Saturday. The intent was only to have him for one episode of THE GOOD WIFE, but he was so funny in a diner scene, yelling “I said ice cream, you stupid bitch” we had him back for six years of Good Wife and three years of Good Fight. One of our favorite collaborators.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Aug 13

ALIEN: EARTH. There’s a lot to like about this series—modernist sculptures, Marie Antoinette parties—but what I like best is the portrayal of the children’s minds in adult synthetic bodies. It’s charming. Well-performed and well-written. It also offers some much-needed comedy.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Aug 5

THE NAKED GUN. It’s very funny. Very self-confident. Great visual and verbal gags throughout. Non-stop. Some great absurd detours—one involving a snowman is blissfully funny. See it. It’s worth seeing in the theaters.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jul 8

Agreed. My favorite part. Like visual limericks in the middle of the movie.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jul 8

HEADS OF STATE. Surprisingly witty script by Applebaum, Neman, Query. And funny direction from Naishuller. A lot of great lines and filmic creativity. It’s an intentionally dumb movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, or even seriously at all. On Amazon Prime.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jul 2

More about SISTER MIDNIGHT. You can really see the influence of Buster Keaton on the writer/director, Karan Kandhari. Very rarely do so many uninflected images in a movie make you laugh. He always knows where to put the camera for comedy.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jul 2

SISTER MIDNIGHT. A bit like a Christopher Durang play: comically bizarre, wild, always surprising. It’s an Indian movie about a wife in an arranged marriage going crazy, and possibly becoming a witch. Radhika Apte is fantastic, as is the first time wr/director, Karan Kandhari. See it.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jun 13

FAMILIES LIKE OURS is a fascinating series about the evacuation of Denmark as it sinks underwater from global warming. No tidal wave visual effects, it’s more a slow-moving bureaucratic disaster. What’s more interesting is flipping the usual immigration debate: the most advantaged become the least.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jun 11

If you missed LOVE AND MERCY today is a good day to see it. A great tribute to Brian Wilson who just died. Great artist.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jun 11

Wow. It’s like reading a Philip K. Dick-like alternate history of TV. Never heard or read anything about her. Thanks for this.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jun 10

How did I ever not see this movie? LE TROU (THE HOLE). Written/directed: Jacques Becker. It’s an exciting French prison escape movie— just as great as A MAN ESCAPED. Intense, clever, focuses more on the procedure of escape than the melodrama. Stars one of the original prisoners. It’s on Criterion.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jun 7

Agreed. I didn’t know that. Loved it.

Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jun 7

MOBLAND again.

I did want to add that the dialogue is strikingly good. The showrunner is Ronan Bennett, but even more interesting his co-writer is Jez Butterworth, the great writer of the play THE FERRYMAN. Anyway, even more reason to see this series. It’s pulp but expertly written pulp.

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Robert King @robertking.bsky.social · Jun 7

MOBLAND. Lurid and propulsive. It’s anchored by three great performances: Tom Hardy, underplaying effectively; Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, overplaying wildly effectively. Pierce is insane, imitating a pig. Reviews have been so-so because they only saw two episodes. See it. Good fast editing.

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