David Sims

New York

Staff Writer at The Atlantic

Co-Host at Blank Check with Griffin & David

we are in a cage (Staff Writer @TheAtlantic | Host @blankcheckpod)

Articles

What ‘Mission: Impossible’ Couldn’t Actually Do

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | David Sims

Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise’s most enduring role, was rarely much more than a name. That’s the point of him; as the Mission: Impossible franchise’s secret agent extraordinaire, Hunt can pretend to be anyone, accomplish basically any physical task, and uncover conspiracies with aplomb. He’s a cross between James Bond and a vaudeville performer. But personality was not part of that package, and a backstory was entirely superfluous.
What Horror Films Could Learn From ‘Final Destination’

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | David Sims

Final Destination, as a horror franchise, is known for its reliable results. Each of its first five movies begins with someone having a premonition of a terrible disaster (a plane crash, a highway pileup, a roller-coaster accident), persuading a group to avoid it, and then spending the rest of the movie dodging the Grim Reaper, who seeks to collect the souls he lost. Death exists in these films as an amorphous concept; there’s no cloaked villain carrying a scythe.
The Problems That Trump’s Hollywood Tariffs Wouldn’t Solve

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | David Sims

Hollywood trade publications often call attention to how the film industry is in danger: If a hotly anticipated movie bombs at the box office, it’s evidence of people not going to theaters anymore; if a studio shelves a completed film in exchange for a tax write-off, it’s a sign of diminished optimism in cinema both commercially and artistically.
No One Knows How to ‘Save’ Hollywood

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | David Sims

Hollywood trade publications often call attention to how the film industry is in danger: If a hotly anticipated movie bombs at the box office, it’s evidence of people not going to theaters anymore; if a studio shelves a completed film in exchange for a tax write-off, it’s a sign of diminished optimism in cinema both commercially and artistically.
Why I Thought I’d Hate (And Grew to Love) ‘Taskmaster’

4 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | David Sims

For ages, various friends of mine recommended that I check out Taskmaster, a British comedy game show in which a group of five comedians earn points by completing a series of silly challenges. The show, which first premiered in 2015, has crossed the ocean in recent years to become a word-of-mouth hit, with fans drawn to its comic hijinks and nonsensical premise. Yet every time my friends nudged me toward Taskmaster, I’d wrinkle my nose.
The Oddball British Comedy Show I Thought I’d Hate (And Learned to Love)

4 weeks ago | yahoo.com | David Sims

For ages, various friends of mine recommended that I check out Taskmaster, a British comedy game show in which a group of five comedians earn points by completing a series of silly challenges. The show, which first premiered in 2015, has crossed the ocean in recent years to become a word-of-mouth hit, with fans drawn to its comic hijinks and nonsensical premise. Yet every time my friends nudged me toward Taskmaster, I’d wrinkle my nose.
‘Thunderbolts*’ Answers Marvel’s Biggest Question

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | David Sims

“What’s the point of it all?” That’s the question dogging Yelena Belova, the pint-size assassin played by Florence Pugh in Marvel’s new film, Thunderbolts*, as she bounces from mission to mission—blowing up weapons labs and scrubbing out security guards, all at the behest of shadowy American intelligence. Yelena is an ex-Soviet mercenary à la Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow; after that character shuffled off the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s mortal coil, Yelena stepped into the vacant role.
The Answer to Marvel’s Biggest Question

1 month ago | flipboard.com | David Sims

Baldoni Vs. Lively Feud: Lively Addresses ‘Lowest Lows’ Of Past Year In First TV Interview Since LawsuitBlake Lively said she has experienced the “highest highs and lowest lows” of her life over the past year in an interview with Seth Meyers, her first television interview since she and her “It Ends With Us” co-star Justin Baldoni filed dueling lawsuits accusing the other of defamation. (Here are …
‘The Legend of Ochi’ Revives an Extinct Kind of Filmmaking

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | David Sims

There’s a legendary bit of movie-nerd lore that sums up Hollywood’s shift away from using intricate little puppets. During preproduction on Jurassic Park, the stop-motion artist Phil Tippett was working to create animatronic dinosaurs—and then a visual-effects demo helped convince Steven Spielberg that CGI was ready to handle the assignment. After watching the digitally created reptiles himself, Tippett exclaimed, “I think I’m extinct,” a paraphrase of which made it into the script.
The Conversation That Moviegoers Don’t Need to Be Having

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | David Sims

The director Ryan Coogler’s new film, Sinners, had an impressive first weekend for an industry that’s been wanting good news. It topped the box office with $48 million nationwide, ahead of the Minecraft movie, 2025’s biggest earner domestically thus far. That sum stands as the highest opening gross for an original feature since the coronavirus pandemic upended Hollywood.