Lindy West

Firebrand NY Times columnist and bestselling author Lindy West unpacks the beloved rom-coms and cult classics we love in order to dissect the culture we've created

Shit, Actually

Patrick Book

I know some people think it’s low-hanging fruit, but there’s not much I love more than a very good writer making fun of pop culture artifacts.

Crystal L

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Books for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

5/5 Stars!

Lindy West blows it out of the park again with this book. It’s clever, light-hearted, and engaging. Honestly, it’s everything I’ve been missing from reading lately which is why I’ve mostly been reading rom-coms until this. I’ve never seen The Fugitive, and I probably never will. [I’m not much of an action movie person.] But after reading West’s description, and repeating quotes from the book back to my friends over and over, I think I understand why every other movie in this collection is pitted against it. 

Reading Shit, Actually is like talking to your very very clever best friend about all of the movies you’ve watched, or rewatched) during COVID. Your very very clever best friend has better things to say about the movies than you do, so you mostly listen and laugh and agree. [side note: do you think Lindy West would be my friend because, please????] There’s so much going on in these essays but it’s all good, and it’s all funny, even if the movies are very bad and very not funny. I can’t say that I agreed with her on all of the ratings but I did enjoy each of the reviews. Except, I would like the opportunity to defend The Santa Clause because 2/10?! Really Lindy?????? Actually, I haven’t watched this movie in years and all of my love is based purely upon seeing it in theatres with my mom on Christmas Day so I probably can’t be trusted. 

I absolutely would suggest this book to all of my friends, anyone who thought Reality Bites was good because we soooooo wanted to be that cool in our teens/early-twenties, and anyone who loves Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. 

Drop everything and read this book!

Faye Alhadeff

This book was exactly what I needed right now. After just finishing a very bleak and eerily prescient dystopian series and also just the state of the world today, I needed a laugh. So much, in fact, that I read the whole book in one day (okay I finished after midnight, so technically 2)!

Rebecca Shaffer

I did the audio book which I definitely recommend, and it made me want to go back and watch all these movies. Well, most of them anyway! I rate it 10/10 DVDs of the fugitive. 😜

The book was funny, but I found myself skipping over any movie I haven’t watched. Lost its luster over time. 

KADY BURNS

I laughed, I giggled and I had a great time with this one

Sahi K

I didn’t even know Lindy had a new book coming, but when I saw the audio advance copy available through Libro.fm this month, I immediately felt like listening to it. Each chapter in this is Lindy rewatching one of her old favorite/popular movies and critiquing them based on how well they hold up now, or just how not great they actually are. As someone who didn’t grow up on Hollywood, I didn’t know many of these movies and hence share no nostalgic memories of them, but Lindy makes the narration a lot of fun and I haven’t laughed so much in the middle of a book in recent times. Definitely recommend the audiobook if you need something lighthearted.

Rose Stanley

A collection of mad-cap mile-a-minute reviews of various films from my formative cinema-going years. Had already read Ms West's articles on Titanic, Love Actually (for which this book is named) and The Notebook (all superb and available on Jezebel) but (1) there are some slight changes to all of those that make it worth your while to read them here, rather than online and (2) the other 21 were new to me and had the same energy. 

It's like sitting down to watch a bunch of films with a friend (remember The Before Times (TM)?) and then having that friend geek out about those films TO THE MAX in a way that completely changes how you see those films FOR THE REST OF TIME.

Anyway, enjoyed this immensely (including the reviews for the films I haven't watched yet - already know I will be rereading the one for The Rock the moment I get back from viewing it, whenever that is). 

Laughed out loud several times, but there's also some great serious social commentary that sort of zings in out of left field. 

Also I love Top Gun but she's 100% right about Ice Man.

Jennifer Dieter

3.5/5 stars - rounded up because the essays I loved, I REALLY loved. 

Lindy West is one of my favorites. Her essays are full of heart, humor, and a big ole dose of feminism. In Shit, Actually, West revisits a bunch of popular movies and offers humorous recaps that include pointing out all of the problematic bits including Love, Actually, American Pie, the Notebook, Speed, and Twilight. Confession: I have never watched the Notebook, and after reading West's essay, I don't feel like I need to and also that movie sounds WILD. Ultimately, every movie is rated on a scale of 10 DVDs of The Fugitive, which West has declared the greatest movie of all time. 

The first few essays in this collection captured me immediately. I was laughing out loud and couldn't wait to see what movie came next. I did start to feel tired by the end and sometimes her plot recaps felt too long. I am glad she ended with the American Pie essay, which is pure gold. While on the surface level, it appears to be a silly series of essays, West still reminds the reader often that we are in the middle of a pandemic, Trump is still our President, racism exists, and many of the characters and plots of these movies are relevant to American "quote" values (e.g., Maverick in Top Gun taught us to "believe not just that safety is for dweebs but that it's EVIL!"). Shit, Actually serves as both a form of escapism AND a commentary on current events. 

West and I are about the same age and experienced many of these movies for the first time at the same time. I, however, now know why I have felt zero urge to rewatch them all these years later. And thanks to West, I still don't feel like I need to revisit them. 

If you're into this collection of essays, I highly recommend the podcast "Still Legit." They also rewatch old favorites to point out all of the problematic bits and determine if the movie is "still legit." 

Thank you to NetGalley and Hatchette Books for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Yoomi

I needed this. Thank you Lindy West! Please host Netflix watch parties.

**Your Favorite Movies, Re-Watched** New York Times opinion writer and bestselling author Lindy West was once the in-house movie critic for Seattle's alternative newsweekly The Stranger, where she covered film with brutal honesty and giddy irreverence. In Shit, Actually, Lindy returns to those roots, re-examining beloved and iconic movies from the past 40 years with an eye toward the big questions of our time: Is Twilight the horniest movie in history? Why do the zebras in The Lion King trust Mufasa-WHO IS A LION-to look out for their best interests? Why did anyone bother making any more movies after The Fugitive achieved perfection? And, my god, why don't any of the women in Love, Actually ever fucking talk?!?! From Forrest Gump, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Bad Boys II, to Face/Off, Top Gun, and The Notebook, Lindy combines her razor-sharp wit and trademark humor with a genuine adoration for nostalgic trash to shed new critical light on some of our defining cultural touchstones-the stories we've long been telling ourselves about who we are. At once outrageously funny and piercingly incisive, Shit, Actually reminds us to pause and ask, "How does this movie hold up?", all while teaching us how to laugh at the things we love without ever letting them or ourselves off the hook. Shit, Actually is a love letter and a break-up note all in one: to the films that shaped us and the ones that ruined us. More often than not, Lindy finds, they're one and the same.

The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema

b.andherbooks

100% worth the listen for both West's great narration (adds so much to the jokes and vignettes) and for Lindy West calling Speed the best romantic comedy ever. I 100% agree. I'm glad she loved it too! I also choked on my coffee a bit when she called our shared enjoyed "Can't Hardly Wait" complete incel bait. It is. Ah. 

Thank you to LibroFM for the free advanced listening copy!

Christian Beck

Probably the funniest book I’ve ever read. It helps that I’m the same age as West and saw these movies for the first time at the same age. But I’ll think even for those not indoctrinated to the canon of 90s gems like Speed and Face/Off will enjoy her whit. West is a gem.

Shit, Actually

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