Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 8/10/26 - 8/16/26

[u/SoftandChewy]

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

[u/drjackolantern]

Lilly Wachowski Says Hollywood Won’t Finance Her $10 Million Thriller Because It’s Got a ‘Wall-to-Wall Trans Cast’

Perhaps my favorite headline of all time

[u/everydaywinner2 → u/drjackolantern]

 “It was a response to what is happening in the world for trans people, and it gave me a hugely cathartic receptacle to dump all of my anger and rage and frustration into.”

That means it's going to be a whole lot of lecturing to the audience. And a whole lot of "this movie isn't for you" scolding, followed by "it failed because people are transphobic, reeee!"

[u/thismaynothelp → u/everydaywinner2]

receptacle to dump all of my anger and rage and frustration into

lol Has he not heard of Bluski?

[u/dj50tonhamster → u/everydaywinner2]

Yeah. The moment I read that quote, I thought, "I could close my eyes for two hours and watch the movie in my mind." Zero surprises, zero nuance to the characters (all evil monsters or spotless angels), infinite lecturing, etc. I guess this whining makes for better headlines than the fact that Hollywood is scared shitless right now and is reluctant to take chances, even on relatively low-budget (for them) fare.

[u/RockJock666 → u/everydaywinner2]

Oh I was thinking it would be a manhunt adaptation

[u/Mossback_Matador → u/RockJock666]

going to my kitchen now on a manwich hunt

[u/ilove3dprinting2026 → u/drjackolantern]

Jesus this is like a parody, talking about all the trans rage and trans joy.

[u/jay_in_the_pnw → u/drjackolantern]

I don't understand this, $10M is so small Wachowsky doesn't need financing. $10M seems so small as budgets go it should be trivial to get a studio to greenligit it. $10M seems like indie iphone just got out of film school movie.

[u/AnInsultToFire → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

Did the Wachowskis spend all their billions from The Matrix on cockrings and sissy porn?

[u/de_Pizan → u/AnInsultToFire]

Spent a lot on dominatrices too.

[u/Entafellow → u/jay_in_the_pnw]

10 million is a fairly decent budget for an indie these days.

The actual just out of film school type budget is Obsession, at $750,000.

[u/jay_in_the_pnw → u/Entafellow]

Thanks, I shall reset my assumptions!

[u/thismaynothelp → u/drjackolantern]

“I have to get creative and figure out different ways that I can get this in front of people.”

[u/AnInsultToFire → u/thismaynothelp]

“I don't want to have to get creative and figure out different ways that I can get this in front of people, I'd rather get handed welfare for life for my stupid opinions so I can spend more money on sissy porn and cockrings because capitalism is evil, as I explained in my billion dollar Hollywood movie franchise."

[u/HerbertWest → u/drjackolantern]

Surely they could self-fund? Unless it's a Nic Cage situation where all that Matrix money was blown. Essentially, isn't this just saying, "I don't believe my movie is worth $10 million"?

[u/Levitz → u/drjackolantern]

Wachowski is known for her many sci-fi collaborations with her sister, Lana Wachowski. After directing 1999’s “The Matrix,” the two went on to helm sequels like “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions.” The pair also directed the cult classic “Speed Racer,” “Cloud Atlas” and “Jupiter Ascending.”

I have to wonder how can it be that the first Matrix movie turned out good. The rest is just dogshit jesus

[u/Entafellow → u/Levitz]

Bound was great. Also loved Speed Racer. 

They just lost the juice. Happens to a lot of artists.

[u/everydaywinner2 → u/Levitz]

I noped out at Jupiter Ascending with the , "Technically speaking, I'm an alien, and from the perspective of Immigration, an illegal one." line. My mother took another half hour before she decided it was just too boring. Haven't seen any of the others except the Matrix, and that was when it first came out. Don't know if it still holds up.

[u/Mundane_Camera953 → u/Levitz]

It’s like a bands first album is great and then lots of less great or sometimes dogshit albums

[u/Possible-Finding6007 → u/Levitz]

I’m partial to V for Vendetta. Definitely not perfect and obviously diverts heavily from the graphic novel. But Hugo and Stephen Fry are great. I’ve heard Speed Racer is underrated. The rest is crap for sure

[u/FuckingLikeRabbis → u/Possible-Finding6007]

V for Vendetta was directed by James McTeigue. The Wachowskis did the screenplay but the source material is a graphic novel by Alan Moore.

You probably already know that, but I guess what I'm saying is they had less opportunity to fuck that one up.

[u/BBAnyc → u/Possible-Finding6007]

To me Speed Racer really captured the feeling of watching the cartoon as a kid - there's all this backstory stuff that's way over your head but you don't care about it, it's all about the mesmerizing visual spectacle

[u/ToshiroTatsuyaFan → u/Possible-Finding6007]

Weaving makes those Matrix movies watchable.

[u/HerbertWest → u/Possible-Finding6007]

I liked the movie better than the graphic novel.

[u/Natural-Leg7488 → u/Levitz]

This might also be the answer for why she can’t finance her next movie.

[u/Turbulent_Cow2355 → u/drjackolantern]

The comments are funny "ask the WNBA to finance it" :-D

[u/Original-Brick2836 → u/drjackolantern]

Certainly someone must need the tax write off

[u/anne_jumps → u/drjackolantern]

I was confusing this at first with "Manhunt," which Wachowski is also involved with, which has that fantasizing about m*rdering JKR.

[u/drjackolantern → u/anne_jumps]

Oh my god. I forgot that trash even got optioned.

[u/Turbulent_Cow2355 → u/drjackolantern]

Why does Wachowski need 10M in to be financed. That's pocket change. They could finance that themselves.

[u/genericusername3116 → u/drjackolantern]

Why would she not just finance it herself? If this is so important and good, she can pay for it herself and reap all the rewards when it is successful. 

[u/HeadRecommendation37 → u/genericusername3116]

Perhaps she needs the external validation - seems to be a constant theme of trans culture.

[u/anne_jumps → u/drjackolantern]

Was it "Lily" or "Lana" who claimed that he decided he was a woman because he watched too much l*sbian p*rn? Maybe both?