The Projector #99: Special Announcement: Introducing ‘The Reveal’ (Patreon)

by Keith Phipps

Scott and I are hijacking this newsletter for one week and one week only for a bit of self-promotion. But first, a story: Over six years ago, Scott, Genevieve, Tasha, Rachel Handler, and myself turned out the lights on The Dissolve, a film site we got to run our way for two years. (The story’s a bit more complicated. We were at this point the only full-time employees and Rachel came in a bit later and others came and went along the way, but you get the idea.) Scott and I then sat down for a lunch together and a question hung in the air: Well, what do we do next?

What we did next was, well, a lot. We started this podcast with Tasha, Genevieve, and Rachel (who left but remains with us in spirit and will doubtlessly guest at some point). I served as an editor at another site for a couple of years but mostly Scott and I launched freelance careers that have taken us to such places as The New York Times, GQ, Vulture, The Ringer, The Washington Post, TV Guide and a bunch of other places. I wrote a book on Nicolas Cage movies (which will be out in March). In short, we’ve stayed busy.

But we’ve always looked for ways to work together again. And now we can. Today sees the launch of The Reveal, a newsletter we’re publishing via Substack. We see it as a continuation of the sort of work we did at The Dissolve and, before that, The A.V. Club: essays, reviews, and conversations about movies (and a little TV). Here’s how it works: subscribe and it will turn up in your inbox. For free. This week alone we’ll be publishing an appreciation of David Chase’s Not Fade Away, an essay about Restrepo and the end of the war in Afghanistan, reviews of The Many Saints of Newark and Titane (and a belated look at A Quiet Place Part II), and a conversation about what movies are worth in 2021. Next week will include everything from James Bond to the unjustly forgotten arthouse classic The Nasty Girl and much more.

One added detail: we’re going to be put out a lot of free content but to keep this going we need the support of paid subscribers. So please consider subscribing if you can (and we’ve got a discounted introductory rate going if you subscribe annually). And, in time, we’ll be taking some (really cool, fun) content behind a paywall for subscribers only.

We’re really excited to get this project, which we’ve been working on quietly behind-the-scenes for some time, up and running and wanted to share this with you. (And thanks to Genevieve and Tasha for allowing us space to do so.) Oh, and that cool logo comes from Mike Renaud, who also created the logo and other graphics for The Dissolve, and none other than the Village Voice’s Alan Scherstul will be serving as our editor.

Okay, with that out of the way, back to The Next Picture Show. We’re getting a lot of feedback about our lost movies episode. Keep it coming! We’ll be dedicating the next installment of this newsletter to lost movies.

Want stuff to read? Then don’t miss…

• Our friend Noel Murray profiled Jared Harris, star of Foundation (good show), for the New York Times.

• For the Washington Post, Walter Chaw wrote about how Shang-Chi doesn’t so much eliminate old, racist tropes as repackage them.

• Disney+ premiered Star Wars: Visions, an anime take on the Star Wars universe. Polygon has been all over it. Our own Tasha Robinson wrote about how Star Wars needs more non-human characters. And if you’re looking for Easter eggs, this Dylan Roth piece has you covered.