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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Defector

Lauren Theisen

A movie theater, closed for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, advertises its reopening on March 12, 2021, in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York

Defector At The Movies

Movie Theater Popcorn In New York City, Ranked

Patrick Redford

‘HIM’ Is A Non-Starter

Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.

Nicholas Russell

Sphere lights up with an advertisement for "The Wizard of Oz at Sphere" ahead of the show's premiere

Arts And Culture

No Courage, No Heart, No Brain

Kelsey McKinney

Food

I Apologize For The Behavior Of Barry “The Popcorn Moron” Petchesky

Barry Petchesky

Woman holding giant sized popcorn and drink

I Submit To You That Popcorn Is A Bad Movie Snack

Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal in Eddington

Ari Aster Wants You To Take The Bait

Annie Berke

‘Ugh! As If!’ Takes On The Enduring Appeal Of ‘Clueless’

Kathryn Xu

Brad Pitt, star of the upcoming Formula One based movie, Apex, and Damson Idris, co-star of the upcoming Formula One based movie, Apex, stand for thr national anthem on the grid during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain.

‘F1: The Movie’ Is Great If Your Favorite Part Of Racing Is All The Corporate Logos

Promo still from the 1961 Film The Children's Hour

Interviews

Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back: Michael Koresky On Hollywood’s Queer History

dakota johnson and pedro pascal slow dance at a wedding in materialists

A Good Marriage Plot Needs Real Stakes

‘Mission: Impossible’ Must Finally Reckon With Tom Cruise’s Ego

Rafaela Bassili

Nicolas Cage on a beach holding a surfboard.

‘The Surfer’ Mostly Sputters And Flails

Jake Romm is a New York City-based writer and the Associate Editor of Protean Magazine.

Jake Romm

Politics

The Paranoid Fantasies Of ‘October 8’

Mark Asch

‘Eephus’ Director Carson Lund On Baseball As A Way Of Being

Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

Drew Magary

Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington being held at gun point in the control room in a scene from the film 'Crimson Tide', 1995.

A Small Gene Hackman Memory for You

Matene Toure

‘Nickel Boys’ Deserves Best Picture

Defector Staff

A camera operator stands by as director Rouben Mamoulian speaks with Greta Garbo.

Staff Chat

Lights, Camera, Staff Chat! Let’s Talk Movies.

<a href="http://www.ddavisla.com">David Davis </a>is the author of Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans From World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation and Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku. He lives in Los Angeles.
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David Davis

Photo of Gidget running through the Malibu Pier. Fifty years after Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, aka Gidget, learned to surf in Malibu, the surfing world has accepted her as surfing's early pioneers, mascots and avid promoters. April 27, 2006, (Photo by Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Gidget The Survivor

Alan Kluegel

Denzel Washington looking incredibly sinister and cool in Gladiator II.

II Decadent II Decrepit: The Politics Of ‘Gladiator II’

Rachelle Hampton

Wicked co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande stand on a red carpet. Grande holds Erivo's hand to her mouth.