infomercial

The Safdie Brothers may be splitting up — yes, that means that anticipated follow-up to Uncut Gems is likely not happening — but that doesn't mean Benny and Josh can't still bond over their shared fascination for Tom Cruise and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. The sibling directors joined fellow filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson on the A24 Podcast, where they detailed how as teenagers they came across an in-faux-mercial starring Cruise as Frank T.J. Mackey, his pick-up artist character from one of the best Tom Cruise…

Cooking With Cathy - Microcrisp“Get yourself a good, sharp pair of scissors.”Microcrisp is advertised as a roll of foil-like material that, according to infomercial host Cathy Mitchell, “changes the microwaves into thermal energy” which seems... wrong. But I digress. With some scissors, tape, and Microcrisp, you too can have crispy food from your microwave (which will famously make things soggy or chewy). Microcrisp is far from the worst concept on this list, but it loses points for the Microcrisp rack that you have to…

As I watched Apple's "Far Out" event, one question popped into my head. How long ago did Apple record this? I'm not talking about the product introductions made by Tim Cook and many of his employees. Instead, I wondered how long ago everything was in place for Apple to create those series of lengthy, professionally done video clips that were packed often into the 90-minute event. I ask this question because this was the first recorded Apple event of the COVID era that felt every bit like an infomercial, and that's not a…