Feckless boat shoes socialists sounded pretty salty, probably because they got a face full of reality that revealed just how poorly educated they are on nearly any topic and how little popular support they have while demanding majority control of politics, it stands to reason why they are abandoning electoralism and embracing authoritarianism and it is not just because they share common cause with hijackers and hostage takers and terrorists that incessantly fire rockets at civilian targets. Michael and Us is the ice pick that killed Trotsky. They are the tanks in Tiananmen and the struggle session red guard after the 100 blossoms. They are Castro's Military Units to Aid Production and they do not care about workers or vulnerable communities and they only LARP as revolutionaries when their only real message is the left version of "We live in a society  bottom text".

i find this quite reductive and in its way reminiscent of the worst of pauline kael, i.e. judging a movie by imagining someone else's naive understanding of it

If all of our current class hierarchies were eliminated, what would replace them? This question is at the core of TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (2022), the art-house hit that show the limits of being an "equal-opportunity offender." PLUS: campus protests, keffiyeh bans, and the state of the publishing industry.

Join us on Patreon for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

"No One Buys Books" by Elle Griffin - https://www.elysian.press/p/no-one-buys-books

"The Delusional Triangle of Sadness" by Armond White - https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/10/the-delusional-triangle-of-sadness/

"Triangle of Sadness" review by Richard Brody - https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/triangle-of-sadness-reviewed-were-on-a-yacht-and-were-puking

"Triangle of Sadness" review by Gabe Klinger - https://letterboxd.com/gabeklinger/film/triangle-of-sadness/

Michael and Us

#519 - Triangle of Badness

Cannes 2024 has arrived—and our intrepid on-the-Croisette crew of Film Comment contributors is high-tailing it from screening to screening, ready to cut through the noise with a series of thoughtful dispatches, interviews, and podcasts.

To kick things off, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish sat down with our contributor Beatrice Loayza (stay tuned for her dispatch next week) and Sight and Sound’s Isabel Stevens. The three critics debated their differing reactions to the festival’s opening night selection, Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act, as well as Sophie Fillières’ This Life of Mine, Agathe Riedinger’s Wild Diamond, and Abel Gance’s newly-restored silent epic Napoléon (1927), before looking ahead to the films they’re most excited to see as the festival continues.

Subscribe today to the Film Comment Letter for a steady stream of Cannes coverage, providing everything you need to know about the 2024 edition: https://www.filmcomment.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Cannes 2024 #1, with Beatrice Loayza and Isabel Stevens

Cannes 2024 has arrived—and our intrepid on-the-Croisette crew of Film Comment contributors is high-tailing it from screening to screening, ready to cut through the noise with a series of thoughtful dispatches, interviews, and podcasts.

For this episode, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish is joined by Cannes veterans and all-star FC critics Bilge Ebiri and Jonathan Romney, whose dispatch on the festival’s early days will be in Friday’s Film Comment Letter. The three discuss and debate some of the most buzzy titles that have screened to date, including George Miller’s would-be blockbuster Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Magnus van Horn's The Girl With the Needle, Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail, Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, Roberto Minervini’s The Damned, and Rúnar Rúnarsson’s When the Light Breaks.

Subscribe today to the Film Comment Letter for a steady stream of Cannes coverage, providing everything you need to know about the 2024 edition: https://www.filmcomment.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Cannes 2024 #2, with Bilge Ebiri and Jonathan Romney

It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with , professor of history and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at Yale University, to discuss her recent book  Then, she speaks with , professor of Palestinian studies at Brown University, to discuss the 76th anniversary of the Nakba.&nbsp;First, Emma runs through updates on South Africa’s ICJ appeal to stop Israel’s Rafah invasion, growing public dissent from Biden allies to his support of Israel’s genocide, the US’ detainment of an anti-zionist Israeli academic, Bob Menendez’s genius legal tactic, the assassination attempt on Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Trump’s legal woes, Argentinian homophobic hate crimes, and Louisiana gerrymandering, before watching CNN try to save face on their coverage of the violence against student protesters. Professor Regina Kunzel then dives right into the history of the psychiatric industry, from its roots as a custodial care industry (asylums, etc) in the 19th Century, through its slow battle for professional legitimacy over the first half of the 1900s, exploring how this push for legitimacy saw the industry lay claim to a wide range of “problems in living” such as anxiety, depression, and (importantly) homosexuality and gender nonconformity. Expanding on this, Professor Kunzel tackles the presentation of queerness as a “treatable” mental disorder, one that would eventually be codified as a personality disorder (alongside pedophilia and sadism) with the introduction of the DSM in 1952, before stepping back to look at the role World War II, and more specifically the emphasis on mental health screenings, had in giving state-backed legitimacy to the psychiatric industry writ large, and in its particular pathologization of queer identity. After looking at the central role de-pathologizing homosexuality played in the gay rights movement of the 1970s, and the side-effect of gender “deviance” taking a back seat to homosexuality, Professor Kunzel wraps up with the re-emergence of the medical and psychiatric attack on queer identity with the mainstreaming of transphobic politics over the last decade. Professor Beshara Doumani then joins, walking through the 76 years of Palestinian oppression and ethnic cleansing since the 1948 Nakba, with the original event seeing the expulsion of over 80% of Palestinians from their homes, the end of the Palestinian state (and Palestinian society), and the creation of the State of Israel in the vacuum left by British colonial rule. Continuing the conversation, Professor Doumani contextualizes the central role the Nakba plays in Palestinian trauma and oppression to this day, exacerbated and brought to the fore with the following “earthquakes” of the 1967 Six-Day War, which saw hundreds of thousands more Palestinians ethnically cleansed, and the Oslo Accords complete isolation of Palestinians between the river and the sea. After diving deeper into the particular failure of the 2-state “solution,” Professor Doumani walks Emma through the specific repression he’s faced as a Palestinian academic, and the tremendous increase it has seen in the wake of October 7th. And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they watch British bigot Mike Graham boot Arab-Israeli Jew Avi Shlaim from his program for being honest about Israeli apartheid. Alec from Western New York explores the evolution of his perspective on anti-zionism, Mike in Denver on the second coming of meme-stock, and Bumble creator discusses the alienating future of AI-infused dating. Plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Regina's book here:&nbsp;https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo212129044.html Hear Beshara speak more about the Nakba here:&nbsp;https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/05/15/al-nakba-palestinians Become a member at&nbsp;JoinTheMajorityReport.com:&nbsp;https://fans.fm/majority/join Help out the state of Utah by telling them what you see in public bathrooms...

3340 - Psychiatry’s Anti-LGBTQ History; The Nakba Turns 76 w/ Regina Kunzel, Beshara Doumani

It's Casual Friday! Sam speaks with , contributing writer at&nbsp;&nbsp;and proprietor of the blog&nbsp;, to round up the week in news. Then, he's joined by ! Check out Digby's work at Salon:&nbsp;https://www.salon.com/writer/heather_digby_parton Check out Hullabaloo here:&nbsp;https://digbysblog.net/ Check out Matthew's Letterboxd here:&nbsp;https://letterboxd.com/langdonboom/ Check out Matthew's film discussion group here:&nbsp;https://www.commonpointqueens.org/program/cultural-arts-and-jewish-heritage-classes/ Check out Matthew's eBay auction here! https://www.ebay.com/itm/115464749223 Become a member at&nbsp;JoinTheMajorityReport.com:&nbsp;https://fans.fm/majority/join Help out the state of Utah by telling them what you see in public bathrooms here!:&nbsp;https://ut-sao-special-prod.web.app/sex_basis_complaint2.html Check out Seder's Seeds here!:&nbsp;&nbsp;ALSO, if you have pictures of your Seder's Seeds, send them here!:&nbsp;hello@sedersseeds.com Check out the "Repair Gaza" campaign courtesy of the Glia Project here:&nbsp;https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/rebuild_gaza_help_repair_and_rebuild_the_lives_and_work_of_our_glia_team#!/ Check out StrikeAid here!;&nbsp;https://strikeaid.com/ Gift a Majority Report subscription here:&nbsp;https://fans.fm/majority/gift  Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here:&nbsp;https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here:&nbsp;https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord!&nbsp;http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store:&nbsp;https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!:&nbsp;http://majority.fm/app Check out today’s sponsors: Prolon:&nbsp;Right now, Prolon is offering The Majority Report with Sam Seder listeners 10% off their 5-day nutrition program. Go to https://ProlonLife.com/MAJORITY. Blueland Cleaning Products:&nbsp;Blueland has a special offer for listeners. Right now, get 15% off your first order by going to https://Blueland.com/MAJORITY.&nbsp;You won’t want to miss this! https://Blueland.com/MAJORITY for 15% off. Sunset Lake CBD:&nbsp;Sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at .   Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:    @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop   Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon!&nbsp; Check out Matt Binder’s&nbsp;YouTube&nbsp;channel:&nbsp; Subscribe to Brandon’s show The Discourse on Patreon!&nbsp;https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here!&nbsp;https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder -&nbsp;

3341 - Trump's Trial, & The Republican Parade Of Fools w/ Heather Digby Parton, Matthew Film Guy

Katie talks to Jewish Israeli-German activist Iris Hefets about Germany's alarming crackdown on free speech from Jews and Palestinians. She herself was detained over holding a sign. Katie also talks to Dr. Mohamad Abdelfattah and Dr. Mahmoud Sabha who are currently in Gaza and were supposed to go back to the states yesterday but now can't. And Katie contrasts the media's antisemitism narrative with the actual reality on the ground at the protests and encampments.

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Dr. Mohamad Abdelfattah, Dr. Mahmoud Sabha in Rafah + Iris Hefets talks German Censorship

Cannes 2024 has arrived—and our intrepid on-the-Croisette crew of Film Comment contributors is high-tailing it from screening to screening, ready to cut through the noise with a series of thoughtful dispatches, interviews, and podcasts.

For today’s episode, critics Kelli Weston and Jessica Kiang join Film Comment Editor Devika Girish to unpack three of the most highly anticipated premieres of the festival: Francis Ford Coppola’s operatic fable Megalopolis, Andrea Arnold’s magical realist Bird, and Yorgos Lanthimos’s macabre anthology film, Kinds of Kindness.

Subscribe today to the Film Comment Letter for a steady stream of Cannes coverage, providing everything you need to know about the 2024 edition: www.filmcomment.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Cannes 2024 #3, with Jessica Kiang and Kelli Weston

Maybe it's a fool's errand to look for politics in the Marx Brothers' DUCK SOUP (1933), but nevertheless, many have tried. We discuss the philosophy of the Brothers' tomfoolery, and the way that movies and literature imagine countries like Freedonia.

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#525 - Freedom and Freedonia

Cannes 2024 has arrived—and our intrepid on-the-Croisette crew of Film Comment contributors is high-tailing it from screening to screening, ready to cut through the noise with a series of thoughtful dispatches, interviews, and podcasts.

On today’s episode, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish sat down with Canadian filmmakers Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson to discuss their new film Rumours, one of the true delights of the festival so far. It’s a horror comedy set during a G7 Summit, with a dynamic ensemble cast including Cate Blanchett as the German chancellor, Charles Dance as the American president with an explicable British accent, and Roy Dupuis as the Canadian prime minister sporting a man bun. These and other leaders of the world’s richest democracies gather in a gazebo in the German forest to draft a statement addressing an unnamed political crisis, but soon sinister noises and figures emerge from the shadows around them. Rumours is a satire that is as whip-smart and timely as it is unabashedly silly, featuring hijinks such as a giant brain and an AI bot that traps sex predators.

Subscribe today to the Film Comment Letter for a steady stream of Cannes coverage, providing everything you need to know about the 2024 edition: www.filmcomment.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Cannes 2024 #4: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson on Rumours

Cannes 2024 has arrived—and our intrepid on-the-Croisette crew of Film Comment contributors is high-tailing it from screening to screening, ready to cut through the noise with a series of thoughtful dispatches, interviews, and podcasts.

On today’s episode, Film Comment Editor Devika Girish is joined by Kevin B. Lee, Abby Sun, and Vadim Rizov to debate their differing reactions to Jia Zhangke’s Caught by the Tides, Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada, Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson’s Rumours, Patricia Mazuy’s Visiting Hours, and Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language.

Subscribe today to the Film Comment Letter for a steady stream of Cannes coverage, providing everything you need to know about the 2024 edition.

Cannes 2024 #5, with Kevin B. Lee, Abby Sun, and Vadim Rizov

A podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world. Hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

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#519 - Triangle of Badness

Michael and Us

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