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Slate
Movie critic at Slate.com and co-host of the Slate Culture Gabfest podcastPROFILE
Dana Stevens
Guest
FROM Dana Stevens
To the Point
The Summer Blockbuster Flop Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are warning that Hollywood is on the verge of a meltdown. They say that studios' reliance on big budget action movies could doom them. And so far this summer, there have been six major flops. So is the movie industry going through some soul searching? George Lucas and Steven Spielberg launched the era of the modern blockbuster with their movies Star Wars and Jaws. So people took note when last month they warned that Hollywood could suffer big for its reliance on huge action movies. Indeed, there have been six big budget flops in the last few months. The latest -- R.I.P.D. which cost 130 million dollars to make and has earned just 23 million worldwide.
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To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.