Little Gold Men by Vanity Fair

I always enjoy and appreciate this podcast, but also always skip over the interviews. Not bad interviews per se, just… fluff.

Richard is King! Now, I too miss Katey. She was great. But still a great show and my go to for film discussion because it avoids anyone sounding like a “film douche.” Terrible term I know but still, glad there’s none of that here

I've been a longtime listener since the earliest days, and I’m finally getting ready to be done. The original hosts were such supportive fans of film, actors, and the industry and seemed to enjoy the topics and awards shows they covered. The current hosts (OG Richard Lawson, Rebecca Ford, David Canfield) are the worst kind of film fans: fickle and snooty pseudo-tastemakers who talk out of both sides of their mouths. Cackling as a film they predict will be bad tanks but rarely acknowledging that they are frequently wrong prognosticators, they speak in definitives, which is never how a critic, let alone a journalist worth their salt, should behave. The way they cherry-pick their favorites (often featured in Vanity Fair stories, hmmm…) is telling, and their smug horn-tooting is grating to listen to. They pull their punches sometimes, e.g., “That didn’t work for me for reasons I won’t get into.” (why not?) while eviscerating celebrities and films that are easy targets. The original hosts would never have approached their work like this. I’m incredibly disappointed that Richard Lawson has sunk from a punchy commentator to a critic who writes snarky punchlines before he takes a critical look at his work.

While I’m still listening and enjoy the still-existing pundits, this week’s Roundtable discussion, in particular, seems so clinical, has an personality of “I’m just doing my job,” tired, and not remotely interested. Who’s picking the topics? Can we have some more guests? I assume it’s the higher-ups/production level, not on-air talent, driving this new format and—as someone who’s been listening for years—please don’t try to force a square block into a circle hole.