Shit, Actually is funny, clever and so well written. Rather than a survey of great cinema, West takes you through the films that have made an impression on her, including such “classics” as The Rock. I haven’t laughed out loud while reading a book in a long time and this one had me doing just that on every page!

I LOVE Lindy West, but this sadly did not work for me. It felt like she just rewatched each movie and then word vomited out all her thoughts on them without spending any time to craft anything polished or thoughtful. I also did not particularly find it funny, which is odd because I usually find her stuff pretty hilarious. I'm giving it an extra star because there were moments here and there that were mildly amusing, and because I think that my expectations might not match up with what this book was intended to be.

If you love West's pop culture sensibilities and snarky humor in Shrill, you will delight in her movie reviews! Her takedown of teen classics such as Twilight and American Pie are so spot on, but her love of cinema shines through. This is the perfect read for fans of Chuck Klosterman and Samantha Irby.

Lindy West's writing is a delight and a strength, as always. The format of this book is wonderful if you're at least a little bit of a cinephile and also a snarky ass millenial bitch, and it's a quick read. I think this is probably best read as a physical book, so that you can have a choose your own adventure moment of sorts. Her sass, as always, is A+, but I found it difficult to engage with the essays for movies I hadn't seen. This sort of gets into the broader question of "who is the audience for this book?". Shrill and The Witches are Coming clearly appeal to sassy feminist women across age brackets, but this one is a bit more niche, owing to her movie choices. She selects ones that she feels are classics from her gen that are begging to be written about (which gets into this question of "what is a classic," because that is a horribly subjective question). I think if you're very nearly exactly her age, almost every single one of these would hit. Since I'm still a millenial but almost a decade younger, lots of these essays (Titanic, American Pie, Twilight, Harry Potter) were spot-on for me. When she asks if the Sorting Hat gets to fuck lady sorting hats, I choked on my tea. But some of the others (Speed 2, The Santa Clause, The Fugitive), I just do not give a shit about, so I felt less inclined to closely read those essays. Overall, I would definitely recommend this a certain kind of friend (they will be getting this book for Christmas this year), but probably not for like, my mom.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Shit, Actually.

I've never read any of the author's previous work but the blurb was so hilarious I was thrilled when my request was approved.

Shit, Actually is...HILARIOUS. HONEST. BRAIN-BASHINGLY BRUTAL. In a good way.

Ms. West says exactly what we're all thinking (after we've finished her book) and then some.

I've never seen Love, Actually because I'm not a fan of rom-coms but I know a few women who claim it is one of their favorite movies. After reading Ms. West's reviews all I had to say was, "WHY? Why is this movie on so many women's top 10 list? Have their brains been eaten by alien parasitic worms? Have they been infiltrated by pod people? What does this say about us as a human species? A female species?"

In Ms. West's blunt review and commentary, she reveals many obvious and glaring issues in most rom-coms: They're written by men. They're misogynistic, sexist and continue to perpetuate stereotypes of not just women, but nearly every one who isn't a white privileged male.

Harry Potter was one of my favorite reads years ago (I was much younger then) but Ms. West's synopsis and comments really made me think. I still enjoy the wonder of Harry Potter, even with the painful realistic viewpoint Ms. West's words have wrestled out of me.

All movie lovers should read this book, man or woman. It won't take away the pleasure you get from watching movies (at home, not in the theaters in our post-pandemic world) but it might make you a more empowered consumer.

Or, at the very least, you'll be endowed with the ability to make insightful remarks about how Tenet is logically, psychically and inherently impossible in any and all multiverses.

If I had it to do over, and if I weren't on a deadline to read and review this for NetGalley (I received a free ARC in exchange for my honest review), I would have made sure I saw all the movies before I read the humorous recaps. I really enjoyed the recaps for the movies I had seen, and although the others were still very funny, I had a bit of trouble following them. (Then again, I am certain my life is better for never having seen The Santa Clause, Twilight, or Titanic.) I laughed out loud a lot while I was reading, but I think it's probably funnier if you don't read it all in one sitting like I did.

This is enjoyable and would make a nice gift for left-leaning people who love movies, or hate movies even though they watch a lot of them. I am a fan of Lindy West's other books and look forward to reading many more essay collections by her.

Laugh-out-loud second-takes of popular movies from the 1990s and slightly later. Some jokes carry through the book.

Though the subject matter is less serious, all the essay's in West's most recent book are as funny and biting as her others. the reader is able to deconstruct their own feelings around well loved classic films, that maybe do not hold up to modern sensibility and social contracts, but are definitely still fun.

Thank you to Hachette Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

What do we love about films? Is it escapism from our normal everyday lives? What makes a movie a GREAT movie? Is a GREAT movie on you watch over and over again or is it one that touches a special nerve within yourself?

These are some of the things Lindy West talks about in Shit, Actually. She's written new movie reviews and brought together some from her time at Jezebel to critique well-known films. For Lindy the GREATEST film ever made is The Fugitive. Never heard of it? That's okay because by the end of her review you'll think you've watched it. She does a great job of discussing the film whether you've seen it or not to help readers know why she feels the way she feels.

All the films discussed in Shit, Actually are pretty popular films because they're held in high praise, like The Shawshank Redemption, or because of their pop culture status, like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Twilight. Her reviews made me rethink some of the films and maybe they aren't as great as I once thought they were. Because it's a collection of film reviews it's a great book to read a few "chapters" of at a time to savor the films.

With it's publication date at the end of October (October 20, 2020) it'll make a perfect Christmas gift for the film lover in your life (even if it's yourself).

This had some laugh out loud moments, but it was also kind of exhausting? Worth checking out of the library if you are a movie geek, but probably not worth buying.

LINDY WEST IS MY HERO. She is such an impeccable writer and always, ALWAYS makes me laugh out loud. I would truly read anything she wrote. Period. Full stop.

This book was so delightful, and I cannot recommend it to enough people.

In "Shit, Actually", Lindy West returns to her roots as a movie critic, and reassess movies that were popular back in the 1990's and 2000's. I believe some of the essays are from her time at Jezebel, and some are new. Because we are of similar age, many of the movies she selects to re-hash here are ones I know well, and were often major cultural moments when they were released. Many of the movies she writes about are action movies (Face/Off, The Rock, Bad Boys 2, The Terminator 2, Jurassic Park), while others are more of an eclectic mix of romance (The Notebook, Love, Actually (her essay on this movie is where the book's title originates)), fantasy (Harry Potter), and drama (Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption). She rates all of these movies based on what she calls the Fugitive DVD scale. She considers The Fugitive to be the perfect movie (not much of an argument from me here). This was a bit of a mixed bag, which is expected considering the subjectivity of movies, so if it was a movie I did not know well, or was not my thing, it was hard to keep my interest when she went into depth on plot lines. The movies I either loved or stuck with me, I thoroughly enjoyed her takedowns. Identifying the plot holes in Harry Potter? Been there! How so many romance movies are clearly made by a man for women? Definitely. For fans of pop culture, especially those who grew up in the 90's, this will be a hoot!

You know what? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was so hilarious! I knew Lindy West was a funny author, but I did not know that she would literally have me laughing out loud from her critique of movies I had not even seen. Yes, she is THAT good. I really enjoyed this and I will continue to read and love her books. Her critique of Twilight is hands down one of the funniest things I have read all year. I really loved it. What a fun read!

Once upon a time, Lindy West was the movie critic for Seattle's alternative newsweekly The Stranger before moving on to write about more serious, political topics. Locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic as she was finishing this book of essays intended to reconsider the movies she loved as a younger viewer, and increasingly disturbed by the state of America’s political situation, West “started to find a strange comfort in the task of making this book for you and thinking about it in your hands and homes — this silly, inconsequential, ornery, joyful, obsessive, rude, and extremely stupid book. More than anything I want this book to make you feel like you were at a movie night with your best friend (me).” This book is silly and ornery, and really very funny; it’s exactly what I hoped for without knowing how much I needed it. I’m not a huge fan of Hollywood movies, so West’s takedown of various blockbusters was hilarious and relatable to me; and even where she brings out her feminist lens to dissect some of these movies — and especially romances, written by men for women (as in The Notebook, Titanic, or Love, Actually, from where she gets the book’s title) — she makes you think, “Yeah. Why did I ever go along with that being okay?” I laughed out loud reading several of these essays and Lindy West made me think — What more could I want?

As a book/movie fan I enjoyed this book and Lindy’s reviews of classic films. They book was humorous while still holding onto Lindy’s typical biting writing style.

This is exactly the book I didn’t know I needed. I’ve really enjoyed Lindy West’s previous books, so when I saw she was putting out a book of essays about movies, I was on board. But I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. I laughed so I hard I cried more than once while reading this one. Her sense of humor won’t work for everyone, and if you’re especially defensive about movies you’ve enjoyed, maybe this won’t be for you, but for me? This felt like sitting on the couch watching movies with my best friend, which is exactly what I needed right now.

Thank you Hachette and NetGalley for the review copy.

NOTE: I received a free advanced reader's copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Snarky take-downs of movies from the 80s, 90s and 00s. The essays that are good are really good and I definitely laughed aloud a few times. A few essays went on a bit too long and I ended up skipping through the ones for movies I hadn't seen. I wish the chapter titles included the actual names of the movies so that you could go directly to the ones you want to read. What's good is that you don't need to read them all, or in order, so this is a good book to pick up when you have a bit of time and want a few laughs at the expense of your favorite films. (Some of the movies included are: Love Actually, The Notebook, Shawshank Redpemtion, American Pie, Bad Boys II, Harry Potter, Twilight, Reality Bites and Titanic, among others.)

I wanted to like this book, but unfortunately, I feel this writing style works better in a blogging format than in a published book. More importantly, I think this book would be funnier for someone who had seen the majority of the films included here, which I haven't, so there wasn't very much for me to take from reading this - sad, as I love Lindy West's writing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this advance copy.

If you're like me and you already love Lindy West, you'll enjoy this book. If you're not familiar with her, but you want to revisit some favorite older movies with a hilarious modern lens, you'll also enjoy this book! I've already rewatched one of the movies she reviewed that was a big favorite of mine in my late teens (Rush Hour) and plan to rewatch more. I thought the prediction that Maverick from Top Gun would be at all the "reopen America" protests was an especially funny yet accurate take.

This book made me realize that I need to be Lindy West's friend! We'll drink wine and make fun of movies and TV shows (and lest we forget those omnipresent Hallmark Channel "movies" because that would be our thing), and get a kick out of our own clever selves while trying ever so hard to ignore the horrible dumpster fire the world around us has become. At least there will always be The Fugitive.
This wave of warmth (no longer talking about said dumpster fire) stemming from reading words written by a kindred spirit was around me from the opening chapter, and continued through the entire book. I laughed out loud and read various passages (mostly Harry Potter) to my partner. West is hilarious (and correct!) in her take downs, but these critiques are also done in the most loving way--we hate Twilight, but goddamn, we love Twilight!
This is the most enjoyment I've gotten out of a book this year (hell, probably years at this point) and should be required pandemic reading!
In conclusion:
Book - Awesome
Lindy West Friend Request - Pending