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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

David Roth

Mac McClung is congratulated by a bunch of much more high-profile NBA players after winning the Slam Dunk Contest at the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend in Utah.

Podcasts

Mac McClung And The Soft Bigotry Of Low Expectations, With Israel Daramola

Defector Staff

Year In Review

The Best Things We Watched In 2022

Soraya Roberts

Defector At The Movies

Please Remove Me From This List

Still image from the movie Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.

Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead, Or That Christina Applegate Is Now Older Than Her

Justin Long as Cale in 20th Century Studios' Barbarian.

Let’s Just Crown Justin Long The Toxic Horror King

Still image from the movie The Fabelmans.

At TIFF, Art Will Tear Us Apart—And Put Us Back Together Again

Corey Atad is a freelancer writer based in Toronto with an unhealthy Air Bud obsession.

Corey Atad

‘Saloum’ Is A Genre-Bending Romp That Is As Smart As It Is Thrilling

Kelsey McKinney

Arts And Culture

The Money Is In All The Wrong Places

In ‘Sharp Stick,’ Jon Bernthal Invents Kissing

Justin Ellis

Rays Week

How To Be A Good Friend: Do Not Expose Your Pals To Cosmic Rays

Screenshot from the movie Cha Cha Real Smooth.

‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Is The Worst Kind Of Indie Throwback

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

“They’ve Got To Pee On It”: A VFX Supervisor Explains Why Their Job Is So Tricky

‘Men’ Is Bad

Interviews

An Anonymous TV Writer Offers An Inside Look At Why Special Effects Seem So Bad Right Now

Bad Special Effects Are A Choice

Nicolas Cage in the film Mandy, covered in blood and grinning and generally seeming like himself.

Nicolas Cage’s Remarkable Pet Crow, With Gabriella Paiella

Still image from the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once.

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Is Where The Chaotic, Splintered Universes Of Modern Life All Collide

Down With Sympathetic Villains

What’s So Great About Relatability?

American vaudeville actor Ray Bolger (1904 - 1987) prepares for the opening of WJZ-TV by the American Broadcasting Company at the Palace Theater in New York City, 10th August 1948. (Photo by Graphic House/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Elder Wisdom

The Best Time To Watch A Movie Is First Thing In The Morning

Protesters from Students For a Democratic Society demonstrate on the University of Utah campus against an event where right wing writer and commentator Ben Shapiro is speaking on September 27, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Campus authorities have increased security ahead of the appearance by Shapiro, a former editor-at-large for Breitbart News. Around 500 people marched across campus, chanting and giving speeches.

I Watched A Ben Shapiro Movie By Accident

Life Lessons

I Hate Games

Jimmy Garoppolo celebrates his 49ers' win at Dallas in the Wild Card game.

Sacred Himbos And Pacino Decisions, With Vince Mancini

Cold Comforts

‘Elle’ Is The Kind Of Dark, Twisted, Sexy Christmas Movie Only Paul Verhoeven Could Dream Up

‘Red Road’ Is A Revenge Story So Hot You Can’t Look Away

movies