What's a Great Movie that Completely Fell Through the Cracks

Plus the week in review ...

Another thing that we plan to do in Pajiba’s new Substack era is a week-in-review post, where we highlight posts from the week you may have missed. For instance, here’s where we discuss why our politics section is on Substack now. I also want to thank our readers for following our politics section over to its new home, continuing to comment (which is especially appreciated on political posts), for subscribing, and for the many of you who have also become paid subscribers and left notes that have completely made my week. Genuinely. My biggest hope at the beginning of the week was that we would not embarrass ourselves with this idea. That fear passed in about 10 minutes. Everything else has been such a pleasant surprise. I try not to think about it too much because sometimes all that kindness can be overwhelming. But thank you! The whole staff thanks you … except for TK, obviously. He still hates you. Don’t take it personally. He hates me, too, and he’s been here for 15 years.

The week in politics has been good. After doomsday fears about Democrats raised by bullshit polls, we had an almost perfect election night, allaying our fears that Donald Trump would demolish our democracy for a day or two, at least. The Moms 4 Liberty school board candidates across the nation were nearly shut out, and Republican reaction to their losses has been satisfying. Alas, we still have to deal with Mike Johnson and an unfavorable 2024 for Democrats in the Senate, but at least we have Taylor Swift on our side.

It was also a good week in the entertainment world. The SAG-AFTRA strike is over, and The Bear was finally renewed for a third season. It wasn’t all good news. James Corden is not going away, neither are Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, but unfortunately, Jezebel has left us. Warner Brothers also killed another completed movie. Zaslav strikes again!

In review news, The Morning Show ended its third season in a fashion that was not as unhinged as I’d have liked. It turns out that Taylor Sheridan doesn’t have much to do with his Bass Reeves series, which is surprisingly good. For All Mankind is back, and if you need a catch-up, we have you covered. Chris also wants to be your authority on the latest season of the Gilded Age.

Finally, if you’re looking for something to watch this weekend, Ali can tell you which Twin Flames Universe docuseries to watch (spoiler: both), and the latest David Fincher film is on Netflix. It is good if Michael Fassbender’s presence is not a dealbreaker. If that’s not your thing, Hulu has the delightful Quiz Lady, starring Sandra Oh and Awkwafina.

With that out of the way, here’s a weekend prompt, or what we call a comment diversion. There were a few years — before the superhero genre exploded and most of the films targeted at grown-ups began premiering on streaming services — where it felt like a lot of really good mid-budget films fell through the cracks. One of those films was a Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts flick called Demolition, which bombed at the box office (it made $4.2 million). I loved it, but I feel like no one else saw it or has ever heard of it despite the presence of Gyllenhaal and the fact that it’s the last movie that Jean-Marc Vallée directed before he died.

Does anyone else have recommendations from the “movies that fell through the cracks that no one has really ever heard of” files?