Richard
kottke.orgDeadline's chief film critic: "Not only have I never played the iconic '80s video game Tetris, I had never heard of it before encountering this new film Tetris..." How is this even possible?! https://deadline.com/2023/03/tetris-review-taron-egerton-cold-war-thriller-sxsw-1235300991/
Ariel Waldman@kottke 😧
Phil Nelson@kottke there is no way. This has to be a lie, and a real weird one
Zac@kottke I don’t think it is the flex they think it is. Its also untrue. Or, if true, a sign that they shouldn’t be a critic since they have no understanding of modern culture.
Jake@kottke I thought this would be the case of someone being too young to have seen the game - a millennial who just missed out or maybe even a Gen-Z who already has a stellar film-reviewing career.
But he’s been reviewing movies since ‘93! I guess he could be too old to have paid attention at the time. My (boomer) parents were completely obsessed with a Tetris. It was the one game they’d definitely know about from back then.
Paul Jacobson@kottke the only reasonable explanation is that the "reviewer" is a bot that has never been exposed to human popular culture or the internet ... 🤔
Jake 
@kottke
My mom is 73. Tetris and pinball are the two video games she's ever played.
How is this guy claiming to be this out of touch?
Lyons
Leisureguy@kottke It requires determination, practice, and careful selection of acquaintances to be so out of touch — that, or being extremely young (age 3 or less).
David Anasco
Robert Jan Schutten@kottke Solid Gen-X-er here. How has anyone alive in the 80s/90s never heard of Tetris? I have played Tetris. I have dreamed about Tetris. It is a life skill I have used packing a moving van. Also very excited about the movie!
(((Jann Gobble)))🏳️🌈@kottke Ummm... could the chief film critic be born after the 90's?
GuerillaGrue@kottke For folks sayin' they might be a late millennial or Zoomer, let me remind you that in the past few years we've gotten multiple Tetris releases on every platform, including the HIGHLY louded Tetris 99 and Tetris Effect, plus stuff like Puyo Puyo Tetris, and that even beyond that it's been on virtually (if not literally) every game-playing electronic device in the last 40 years.
So, yes. The fact this person knows what a movie is, and can use a computer, but doesn't know Tetris is... odd.
Sören@kottke “instead of acknowledging that being this culturally out of touch makes me a poor choice for critic of this film, I’m a white dude, so let’s DOUBLE DOWN!”
Daniel Jalkut@danielpunkass @kottke the mind boggles
Christopher@kottke “Tetris, for those like me who were clueless, turns out to be one of the most popular video games of all time…” 😂
pjbeardsley@kottke meanwhile we have Mia Farrow tweeting about how much she loves the game Death Stranding
Mike Schiraldi@kottke I want a documentary that tells the story of the man who somehow managed to have never heard of Tetris
shinosarna@kottke Why is this a big deal tho. Why are we putting a random person on blast for no real reason? This isn't twitter.
valkraider 
@kottke impossible. Even GenZ folks at least know of Tetris. It in all kinds of incarnations still as well - it’s definitely out there.