Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Mike Redmond | Pajiba Love | July 2, 2025
I'm going to lay my cards on the table here: I never got around to playing The Last of Us Part II, so I actually enjoyed the hell out of Season 2 of the HBO series way more than the first because I didn't know what was going to happen. -- Well, I did know the one big thing because that was all over the place when the game out. -- However, I'm aware that's not a hugely popular opinion, and some people got real mad with the latest season even though the numbers seem to suggest it was still a solid hit. Anyway, things just got even weirder with today's surprising news that Neil Druckmann has left the HBO series ahead of Season 3. Executive producer Halley Gross is also following Druckmann out the door, so the official story that he's going back to focusing on video games seems... suspicious. For those of you who don't know, Druckmann created both of The Last of Us games, and Gross was the co-writer of Part II, so their involvement with the show was not insignificant. (Variety)
Why do Netflix documentaries get a bad rap? (Lainey Gossip)
Sydney Sweeney's presence at Jeff Bezos' wedding was all business. (Celebitchy)
Oh no, will the ICE-tracking app ruin Stephen Miller's Home Depot kidnapping quota? (Wonkette)
Kayleigh wrote about Scarlett Johansson being the true heir to Tom Cruise's movie star crown. (Daily Beast)
Charisma Carpenter hopes Cordelia returns for the Buffy reboot. (Deadline)
From Roxana: This video is perverse. Cooking, and complimentary. (Instagram)
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are not loving this Paramount merger. (IndieWire)
From Dustin: This season's Top Chef winner talks about the four things NOT to do on Top Chef. (The #Content Report)
Pixar reportedly cut queer representation from Elio. (Vulture)
From Kaynic, with an excellent share in the comments that I was going to link on Monday before getting Perfect Storm'd in the face: This is solid advice for Zohran Mamdani, who can very easily get taken out if he learns nothing from Bernie. (YouTube)
Charlize Theron has been making a scumbag director squirm since 2019. (THR)
Crimson Tide is a perfect movie. Leave it alone!! (The Wrap)
While editing stories about the brewing war between India and Pakistan in May, denesteak realized she didn’t know much about the root of the conflict, so she picked up The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani. “Yes, for sure it is an excellent introduction into [1947’s Partition], but it also packed an emotional punch, a fist socking into my sternum; I repeat, it is phenomenal.” How much do you know about the creation of the two nations? (Cannonball Read 17)
From Roxana:
