farewells

A Vulture Says Farewell

It’s time for saying good-bye, as this is my last day at Vulture. When I started here as an editor almost three years ago, I was genuinely intimidated by the smart, funny people who had carved out this smart, funny space on the internet and felt lucky to have been chosen to work alongside them. Eventually, that feeling of intimidation turned into one of awe and affection. An editor is nothing without their writers, or their photo editors, or their copy editors, or their designers, or their product team, or their developers. And so it has been here. My bias is intense, but I think Vulture is the best pop-culture site out there. I shall miss it dearly. Here are some (just a few) of my favorite things:

I don’t know how I lived before this “Aural History of the Inception Horn.”

I’ll never not find Jesse David Fox funny. And because he has brought me so much joy, I assigned him to watch his first horror movie. And then I made up for that by letting him write a million words on The Simpsons. Jesse wears his heart on his sleeve, and this piece on Silicon Valley actor Christopher Evan Welch and this piece on the Adam Sandler movie Blended are genuine and heartfelt.

Margaret Lyons is one of the more perceptive writers I’ve come across. She is always able to locate the humanity (or lack of it) in a piece of television. Her complete history of Mad Men’s Don and Peggy breaks those two characters down to their cores. I love it. She is currently writing a weekly column, and each one is as much about people and psychology and relationships and this thing called life as they are about TV.

Lindsey Weber’s enthusiasms know no bounds, a fact well demonstrated by her thorough guide to the Lana del Rey universe, which basically taught me everything I know about LDR. Good night, you prince of quizzes, you king of karaoke. (Also, please watch this one more time.)

Nate Jones’s ideas always surprise me, like in this piece arguing that Pitbull will one day be president. He’s also an incredible team player, which is why he went to see Gone Girl on a first date. Next up, Fifty Shades?

Kyle Buchanan is Vulture’s movie master. He’s cutting and hilarious and knows everything and can also see the future, as he showed when he was the first person to call 12 Years a Slave’s eventual Best Picture victory. He also hates Peeta, went hard on the Ben Affleck penis beat, and led the conversation two summers back about superhero movies and images of destruction.

I always feel smarter after reading Joe Adalian’s pieces, and that’s because he knows more about the TV industry than the CBS eye and NBC peacock combined. Are you still confused as to why Under the Dome keeps getting renewed? Me too! Here you go. That’s just one of scores of pieces that clearly and entertainingly explain the inner workings of the television labyrinth. He’s also a nostalgia nut, as demonstrated by this piece about how the writers of Friends decided to pair of Monica and Chandler.

I urge you to read all of Abraham Reisman’s superhero-movie and comic-book coverage. He also did a history of the song “The Touch” and one of my favorite videos ever, on the crazy number of times we’ve all seen Batman’s parents die.

Movie critic David Edelstein has waxed beautifully on Gone Girl, raged against movie texters and talkers, and sensitively channeled our grief upon the passing of two tremendous actors. He has written hundreds of reviews worth reading, and you should just bookmark his author page.

Movie critic Bilge Ebiri is a true movie lover, and he can write about old directors and new Oscar movies with equal ease. He’s also possibly seen every movie ever? Unconfirmed. I still owe him a piece about my love for The Big Chill.

When Bilge and David team up, it’s equally wonderful. Their best action movies, horror movies, and space movies lists are true delights to read.

It’s a mystery how TV critic Matt Zoller Seitz finds the time to write as much as he does or how he’s constantly able to surprise with such regular insight and verbal wordplay. He has recapped Mad Men for two and a half years now, and each piece is as dense and allusive and wise as anything else out there. Please read everything he does.

I think art critic Jerry Saltz loves life more than anyone I’ve ever met. His art columns are joys to read and reading them brings me joy. Make him a part of your days.

See ya!

A Vulture Says Farewell