Luke Winkie, Slate:

In just four games in January 2023, Yogesh Raut became an overnight Jeopardy! sensation. In a sign of the times for the show, his ascendance had as much to do with his bluster as it did with his knowing the clues. It was clear he was exceptionally good at quizzing from the moment he took the podium, and between his three initial victories, he totaled nearly $100,000 in winnings. But Jeopardy! fans were especially captivated by Raut’s offbeat demeanor on stage: the violence with which he smacked his buzzer, the confidence with which he taunted flashy luminaries like James Holzhauer. Most memorably, when Raut’s winning streak came to an end, he took to Facebook and wrote a lengthy, difficult-to-parse essay asserting that Jeopardy! and its fandom were a necrotic presence in the world of trivia—specifically that the show is “bad for women and POC who want to be treated with the same level of dignity as their White male counterparts.”

Jeopardy! is a “glorified reality show,” and the aura around it is “fundamentally incompatible with incentivizing the next generation of quizzers to excel,” Raut wrote. “It is fundamentally incompatible with true social justice.”

It does not take much to rankle the librarian-like dictums of Jeopardy! nation, and a former champion taking aim at the show on social media was more than enough for the community to settle on a brand-new villain. “What is ‘Sour Grapes,’ Ken?” went one response to Raut’s post. “He only holds it in such low esteem because he didn’t do as well as he was expected to do,” another fan wrote. So when Raut was invited to the annual Tournament of Champions that was held last spring, fans took note of his impending return. In February, in a story about the deluge of special tournaments that had taken over the show’s programming, I briefly mentioned in a parenthetical that Raut was set to come back to the show he had roasted: “Remember three-time champion Yogesh Raut, who trashed the show after his appearances? He’s back next week!”

That’s when things got weird.

Fascinating read this morning. Whether you agree or disagree with Raut’s perspective on trivia and the games which he plays, this is one of those articles where the iceberg seems to get deeper and deeper the more below the surface you go.

As a Jeopardy! fan, and a Jeopardy! hopeful, this was a must read, but I think everyone’s gonna end up fascinated here. It’s a story of trivia teams, anger, distrust, vengeance, revenge and more. And I never thought those terms would go together.

Warner Bros. Pictures on YouTube:

What’s it feel like to die? From director Bong Joon Ho, comes Mickey 17 - only in theaters January 31, 2025. #Mickey17

From the Academy Award-winning writer/director of “Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho, comes his next groundbreaking cinematic experience, “Mickey 17.” The unlikely hero, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) has found himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living.

I’ve been VERY MUCH looking forward to this once it was announced – I adored the original book its based on, Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, and when you have one of my favorite directors (Bong Joon-Ho) matched with someone who is becoming one of my favorite actors (Robert Pattinson), it’s a recipe for greatness.

Just two bits though…

• Why is it Mickey 17 and not Mickey7?
• Why is this movie coming out in January, which has traditionally been the dumping ground of bad movies?

Mickey 17 hits theaters on January 31th, 2025.

Twenty-five years ago today, the Sega Dreamcast hit North American shelves.

I remember this launch like it was yesterday. I saved all Summer for the system, a VMU, and copies of Sonic Adventure and Soulcalibur. I remember grabbing the tickets from Toys R Us’s video game department, paying my pre-order deposits, and holding onto those tickets and their stapled receipts like they were the nuclear football.

What I didn’t expect, however, was how this system would become my favorite video game system of all time. As a console, it had a short lifespan, being discontinued in March 2001 – but the legacy it left reverberates even today.

So many hours spent with the Sonic Adventure games, taking the SEGA mascot into 3D for the first time. So many hours playing the amazing Soulcalibur, the first time I can remember a home console version looking better than the arcade. So many hours playing the Marvel vs. Capcom games, the perfect party game fighter, showing the comic heroes in a light we’d never seen before. So many hours playing SEGA classics-in-the-making, like the arcade perfect Crazy Taxi, or the stylish Jet Set Radio.

It was even easy to play import games, where the 1-2 punch of my first real disposable income met the ease of access via the Internet of ordering Japanese titles. I spent far too much time creating, tweaking, and then playing characters in Fire Pro D.

And this doesn’t even include the quirky titles like Seaman or underrated games like the Power Stone series.

Developers were making their art. Trying new things. Each game felt so different from what Sony was producing. It was truly a special time.

In many ways, you can see a shared DNA with what the Nintendo Switch has become, but there truly is, was, and likely never will be anything like the Dreamcast.

25 years on, I salute you. Even if your “It’s Thinking” tagline would be considered a threat in 2024.

Mike Fleming Jr., Deadline:

This is a bit early, but The Dish hears momentum is building on the Smokehouse-produced next installment of the Warner Bros caper film franchise that started with Ocean’s Eleven. Sources said that George Clooney and Brad Pitt are coming back, and they are courting Edward Berger to take over directing duties.

This is of no slight to Mr. Berger, who I am sure is a perfectly fine director, nor Mr.’s Clooney or Pitt.

This is a terrible idea.

Even if apparently, there’s been a script in the works, and Clooney even likes it. (How did I miss that?)

Ocean’s Eleven is one of my favorite movies of all time. The times I’ve watched it count easily into the dozens, if not hundreds. Danny Ocean, Rusty and the gang, I love their adventures.

And then Ocean’s Twelve happened. Though I’ve come to appreciate it as its own, scrappy movie, a fun European vacation for a bunch of actors who like to hangout together, it’s a total mess when compared to the first film, which is/was perfection.

They got very lucky with Ocean’s Thirteen. This is the first movie I can recall having the pitch of, “We know we screwed up last time, but this time, we nailed it.” And honestly? They did. While definitely the second best Ocean’s movie, it’s back to the rhythmic fun of the first, effortlessly cool.

A fourth film, going on two decades (god I’m old) after the third installment? You are TEMPTING FATE. You got your mea culpa. Ocean’s 8 was fine. I’m intrigued by the Ocean’s prequel coming with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gossling. But there is no need for Danny and Rusty to come back. Rob Reiner has passed. Bernie Mac has passed. The need for this has passed.

Just keep doing more Ocean’s-like movies like Wolfs. I’ll watch ‘em every time you make ‘em. And you’re already getting a sequel for that one. Don’t tempt fate. You won at the roulette table. Take your winnings.