Michael and Us

In Akira Kurosawa's KAGEMUSHA (1980), a lowly thief is recruited to impersonate a feudal warlord, and he almost gets away with it. This mighty epic gives us opportunity to ponder the role of illusion in maintaining power, and whether or not a lie will always be exposed. PLUS: Recapping the U.K. election, and hey, have you heard about this Joe Biden character?

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

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF OUR ONGOING "STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP" SERIES ON PATREON - Join us there for an extra episode every week - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

It's Studio 60 vs the unions in Episode 17 ("The Disaster Show") of Aaron Sorkin's STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP. We're pleased to welcome Will Menaker (of Chapo Trap House and Movie Mindset fame) to help us make sense of Sorkin's perspective on organized labor. PLUS: So have you heard about Joe Biden?

You've heard of Chapo Trap House, but here's there website - https://www.chapotraphouse.com/

It's Studio 60 vs the unions in Episode 17 ("The Disaster Show") of Aaron Sorkin's STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP. We're pleased to welcome Will Menaker (of Chapo Trap House and Movie Mindset fame) to help us make sense of Sorkin's perspective on organized labor. PLUS: So have you heard about Joe Biden?

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/539-studio-sucky-107416666

Government and big tech are in cahoots to reshape America, and the only man who can stop it is Elon Musk. That's more-or-less the thesis of THE TWITTER FILES (2023), a movie that plumbs new depths even in the right-wing movie ecosystem. PLUS: The first Biden/Trump debate and state of the Canadian Liberal Party.

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

"Democrats Need to Try Something Radical: Hire Christopher Nolan" by Matt Robison - https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/06/22/democrats-need-to-try-something-radical-hire-christopher-nolan/

"Why the Twitter Files Are in Fact a Big Deal" by Branko Marcetic - https://jacobin.com/2022/12/twitter-files-censorship-content-moderation-intelligence-agencies-surveillance

See Will introduce "Hollywood Boulevard" at Toronto's Fox Theatre on July 9: https://www.foxtheatre.ca/movies/the-important-cinema-club-masterpiece-classics-hollywood-boulevard/

As we drift further and further into STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP, we find a show that is quickly losing touch with its original premise of saving comedy, and transforming into a workplace soap opera with a lot of sexual harassment. We discuss episodes 14 ("The Harriet Dinner Part II") and 15 ("The Friday Night Slaughter").

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/536-studio-sucky-106899255

You can go looking for the zeitgeist, but only the zeitgeist can find you. That's what the makers of countless pieces of failed Oscar bait have learned. In this special episode, we run through some of the most legendary failed Oscar bait of the last 25 years and speculate why they didn't catch anything. PLUS: presidential libraries, the Obama Foundation, and an autobiographical novel from an unlikely Hollywood star.

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

See Will introduce "Hollywood Boulevard" at Toronto's Fox Theatre on July 9 - https://www.foxtheatre.ca/movies/the-important-cinema-club-masterpiece-classics-hollywood-boulevard/

We know you've waited a whole week since our last episode on STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP, anxiously looking forward to any update on the Macau Deal. Your wish is our command. We discuss Episodes 12 ("Monday") and 13 ("The Harriet Dinner, Part 1") - more than halfway through, folks!

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/534-studio-sucky-106403874

When our politicians fail us, can journalism save us? We revisit George Clooney's GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK (2005), about Edward R. Murrow's battle with Joseph McCarthy, and get a lesson in how the liberal imagination remembers the Red Scare. PLUS: the rise of A.I. in the arts, and the state of the centre-left in Europe.

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

"Liberals, I Do Despise" by Adolph Reed Jr. - https://www.commondreams.org/views/2009/12/09/liberals-i-do-despise

"On Smarm" by Tom Scocca - https://www.gawkerarchives.com/on-smarm-1476594977

"Europe Is Warning Us" by Grace Blakeley - https://tribunemag.co.uk/2024/06/europe-is-warning-us

We continue our long journey through the dark heart of Aaron Sorkin's STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP. Jordan gets pregnant, Harriet is inducted into the Falstaff Society, Matt & Danny create the most Epic Christmas TV broadcast ever, and Aaron Sorkin confirms once and for all that Santa isn't real in Episode 10 ("B-12") and Episode 11 ("The Christmas Show").

PATREON-EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/532-studio-sucky-106000756

During the Trump presidency, #TheResistance had a powerful figurehead, and his name was (the late) Mr. Rogers. We discuss the Tom Hanks-led #nicecore landmark A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (2019), the strengths and limitations of Fred Rogers as a Trump-era political symbol, and what this movie fails to understand about him. PLUS: What's eating David Frum about the recent Mexican election?

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

"Can You Say... 'Hero'?" by Tom Junod - https://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/publications/press/esquire/index.html

"How Liberalism Betrayed the Enlightenment and Lost Its Soul" by Michael Brenes - https://jacobin.com/2024/05/cold-war-liberalism-moyn-review

Mr. Rogers at the Emmys - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upm9LnuCBUM&ab_channel=TheEmmyAwards