Shit, Actually by Lindy West

Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema by Lindy West

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Movie reviews, actually. The most famous being the one about the inexplicably popular Love, Actually. Though as I think of it, I guess the popularity is understandable to a degree, because the film has a lot of famous faces, switches between storylines giving it a fast pace, and shimmers with the semblance of having heart (that it doesn't really have at all if you pay attention). When you peel away the flimsy top layer, the movie really *is* shit, actually! 

Lindy West delivers hot takes with humor and more truth than most movies can withstand. Makes me wish she'd tackled The Devil Wears Prada, because oh my god that is a giant piece of poo. These movies that hint at tropes they don't really deliver on, but that people feel they did because the movie's themes reminds them of other films that do deliver on the same clichés, are baffling in their widespread appeal. Have at 'em, Lindy!

This book is most fun when you've seen the movie in question. Most of the ones I hadn't seen ended in me bailing and skipping to the next chapter. I didn't always feel like reading review after review, but it was easy enough to put aside and jump back in at will.

And now for a small taste of righteous snark from the reviews:

Love, Actually:
"Colin Firth falls in 'love' with Aurelia at first sight, establishing Love Actually’s central moral lesson: the less a woman talks, the more lovable she is."

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids:
"'Honey…I shrunk the kids.' You did what???? YOU DID FUCKING WHAT!?!?!?!?!???!?? Imagine the years of frustration. Imagine how much she’s already had to forgive to stay in this marriage."

Garden State:
"Natalie Portman’s character claims to be a human being but is actually a genie that exists entirely within the mind of Zach Braff’s dreaming penis."

Terminator 2:
"Call me old-fashioned, but I think it’s weird not to explain why your robot is Austrian and has a dick."

There you have it, folks! Happy reading, happy viewing, happy loving to hate on films you may love or hate, or both. 

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