This Matt Yglesias tweet (discussing The Talented Mr. Ripley) caught my eye:
Matt should speak for himself. I knew this film was a masterpiece when I first saw it in 1999.
PS. For those who don’t get the joke, Yglesias frequently complains about annoying news headlines of the form:
X is not what you think it is
Matt is very smart, and generally knows what X is before being told by some stupid young reporter than he doesn’t know what they know.
PPS. You guys don’t know this, but the earlier French version with Alain Delon is roughly as good. (It’s the plot that makes these two films so good.) But at a cocktail party you should tell people that the French version is much better, because it’s the original and because . . . well, because it’s French. That’ll impress them.
PPPS. And don’t forget to preface your observation with, “You probably don’t know this, but . . . “