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PaperclipPerfector  6mo ago (text post)   2842 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 22, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

I'm picking up Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth. It has been on the backlog for years.

Paper I'm reading: Dombrink's The Touchables: Vice and Police Corruption in the 1980's.

I just blew through The Big Short in a day and a half. It is, Peter Segal observed, a most unusual book because adapting it into a movie didn't mean making changes to make things more exciting or dramatic—but several things that really happen did have to be toned down!

Funny, I rewatched the film last week. This time round I found that the comedic parts of the film really did not work for me at all (surprising given the director's background) and the quirky editing choices were distracting more than anything. The dramatic parts are so much more effective than the comedic parts that the film probably would have been improved by making it a straightforward drama rather than attempting a quirky comedy-drama.

Which is better, the book or the film?

Both are good, but the book is better. You get a lot more detail on the finance side, if you are into that. It’s probably Michael Lewis’s best book, or at least the one I would recommend to introduce you to his writing style.

This time round I found that the comedic parts of the film really did not work for me at all (surprising given the director's background) and the quirky editing choices were distracting more than anything

This is how I felt about Vice, Adam McKays biopic about Dick Cheney. McKay took the quirky, “wink at the camera” directorial choices from The Big Short and ratcheted them up to ten. Not a fan.

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