Matthew Simpson
banner
smatthew.bsky.social
Matthew Simpson
@smatthew.bsky.social
I write and talk about movies and TV. Rotten Tomatoes Approved. Rather tall. He/Him/His.

Check my work here: https://stretched.ca
Two new episodes of Contra Zoom last month! Get links to our VIFF 2025 episode and our Frankenstein episode here:

www.patreon.com/posts/145322394
Two Episodes of Contra Zoom: Vancouver International Film Festival and Frankenstein | Matthew Simpson
Get more from Matthew Simpson on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Disney and OpenAI making a deal licensing hundreds of their characters for use in Sora is:

- Absolutely insane coming from a company that is historically super litigious
- Absolutely insane coming from a company that historically champions human creativity

www.cbc.ca/news/business/disn...
Disney to invest $1B US in OpenAI, license characters for Sora | CBC News
Walt Disney is investing $1 billion US in OpenAI and will let the startup use characters from Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel franchises in its Sora AI video and image generator, a crucial deal that could reshape how Hollywood makes content.
www.cbc.ca
December 11, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I very much dig the vibes of the Supergirl trailer, and it's coming out for my birthday! What a great gift, thanks James Gunn and Craig Gillespie!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqdAE...
Supergirl | Official Teaser Trailer
Look out. #Supergirl lands in theaters June 26. “Supergirl,” DC Studios’ newest feature film to hit the big screen, will be in theaters worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures, starring Milly Alcock in the dual role of Supergirl/Kara Zor-El. Craig Gillespie directs the film from a screenplay by Ana Nogueira. When an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion on an epic, interstellar journey of vengeance and justice. Alcock stars alongside Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, and Jason Momoa. DC Studios heads Peter Safran and James Gunn are producing the film, which is based on characters from DC, Supergirl based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The film is executive produced by Nigel Gostelow, Chantal Nong Vo and Lars P. Winther. Behind the camera, Gillespie is joined by director of photography Rob Hardy, production designer Neil Lamont, editor Tatiana S. Riegel, costume designer Anna B. Sheppard, Visual Effects Supervisor Geoffrey Baumann, and composer Ramin Djawadi. DC Studios Presents a Troll Court Entertainment Production, The Safran Company Production, A Film by Craig Gillespie, “Supergirl,” which will be in theaters and IMAX® across North America on June 26, 2026, and internationally beginning 24 June 2026, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 5:34 PM
It's weird how we made ads the backbone of making money on the web but then also made ads so low value that most sites -especially huge, entrenched, super popular sites with built in name recognition- have to put so many ads up that we can barely access the writing on their websites.
December 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
The Letterboxd video store is now live and that's good but the prices are a little on the higher side for rental-only, but also they're in line with premium vod rental prices so I am calling this a win.

December 10, 2025 at 7:53 PM
This Supergirl poster is an excellent poster.
December 10, 2025 at 5:30 PM
This evening's episode of It: Welcome to Derry is one of the best TV episodes of the year. Maybe the best iteration of Pennywise in the Muschietti-directed franchise so far.
December 8, 2025 at 5:23 AM
I've been bad about posting to Patreon lately, but I just added a whole bunch of posts for the next week, catching up on the writing and podcasting I have done this fall.

Feel free to follow me over there, it's free to join (but paid subs are appreciated!)

www.patreon.com/c/mcsimpson
Matthew Simpson | Patreon
Writing and Podcasting About Movies and Television
www.patreon.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Actors I always enjoy: Aisling Franciosi

December 7, 2025 at 11:19 PM
You know who’s had a great few years? Dylan O’Brien
December 7, 2025 at 10:38 PM
So when Netflix swallows up WB and fewer movies go to cinemas and stay there for less time... it feels like one more thing removing us from each other. Another thing to keep us isolated from one another.
December 7, 2025 at 8:47 AM
I've just learned that Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa has passed away. Another great "oh hey it's that guy" actor. RIP to a legend.
December 7, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Podcast homework.
December 6, 2025 at 4:30 AM
I cannot wait to see what Nia DaCosta, Danny Boyle, and Alex Garland have cooked up with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlF6...
28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE - New Trailer (HD)
YouTube video by Sony Pictures Entertainment
www.youtube.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:25 AM
I find it kinda weird that there seem to be a not-insignificant subsection of #StrangerThings fans who want noted child murderer Vecna to be redeemed.
a netflix advertisement with a red monster in the background
ALT: a netflix advertisement with a red monster in the background
media.tenor.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Exclaim's Best Films of 2025 is also live. I wrote about The Naked Gun on this one!
December 2, 2025 at 5:26 PM
CHeck out Exclaim's Best 13 Series of 2025 list. I had the privilege of writing about number 8 and number 1! Check it out!
December 2, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Here's your annual reminder that Joe Pesci was in two masterpieces - Home Alone and Goodfellas - in the same year in 1990.

Range!
November 29, 2025 at 2:01 AM
There are a bunch of people saying “don’t complain about the kids in Stranger Things being adult, when I was young 30 year olds played teenagers” and that’s true but those 30 year olds started out as 25 year olds not 12 year olds, and didn’t age 3 full years between seasons.

It makes a difference
November 28, 2025 at 1:14 AM
I’ve watched eps 1 & 2 of Stranger Things 5, and they’re fine. Lots of good moments but also some dumb/annoying things, and the storytelling is hampered by the Duffer Brothers unwillingness to take any real risks with their characters.

So it’s fine so far. A good start. You’ll probably like it.
November 27, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Sometimes I see videos of people living hashtag vanlife and think "yeah, that freedom is appealing" and then i remember that a) the nice vans cost a ton of money and I'm not, uh, social media savvy enough to generate that kind of revenue and b) I am too tall to fit in vans anyway.

*sigh*.
November 26, 2025 at 8:52 PM