I’m sick of smug celebrities on the podcast circuit. No wonder there’s a fuss when someone speaks the truth | Imogen West-Knights
Why This Matters
Key context: <p>It was so refreshing to hear Aaron Sorkin admit he was bad at parts of directing after his movie flop. If only others could be as frank</p><p>By most accounts, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/oct/07/the-social-reckoning-review-aaron-sorkin-jeremy-strong-mikey-madison">Aaron Sorkin’s new film The Social Reckoning</a>, a follow-up to his 2010 smash-hit The Social Network, is a flop. The film critic <a href="https://consent.youtube.com/m?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fshorts%2FB4E0YDVVXPY%3Fcbrd%3D1&gl=GB&m=0&pc=yt&cm=2&hl=en-GB&src=1">Mark Kermode’s response to seeing it</a> was that Sorkin, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest living screenwriters, is “not a great director”.</p><p>It seems that Sorkin agrees. Because Sorkin is very famous, he has had to do the rounds talking about the film in the media, which led to his appearance on the Hollywood Reporter’s <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/aaron-sorkin-social-reckoning-directing-doubts-few-good-men-1236740233/">Awards Chatter podcast earlier this week</a>, in which he addressed these kind of criticisms head on. “I’m very worried that the parts of directing that I’m not good at are those parts that you can’t learn,” he said. “In addition to having absorbed none of the science of filmmaking, I have – and this is a problem in a visual medium – I have no visual sensibility at all, it turns out.”</p><p>Imogen West-Knights is a writer and journalist</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/nov/01/smug-celebrities-podcast-circuit-aaron-sorkin">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.
It was so refreshing to hear Aaron Sorkin admit he was bad at parts of directing after his movie flop. If only others could be as frankBy most accounts, Aaron Sorkin’s new film The Social Reckoning, a follow-up to his 2010 smash-hit The Social Network, is a flop. The film critic Mark Kermode’s response to seeing it was that Sorkin, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest living screenwriters, is “not a great director”.It seems that Sorkin agrees. Because Sorkin is very famous, he has had to do the rounds talking about the film in the media, which led to his appearance on the Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast earlier this week, in which he addressed these kind of criticisms head on. “I’m very worried that the parts of directing that I’m not good at are those parts that you can’t learn,” he said. “In addition to having absorbed none of the science of filmmaking, I have – and this is a problem in a visual medium – I have no visual sensibility at all, it turns out.”Imogen West-Knights is a writer and journalist Continue reading...
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