{"id":8652,"date":"2018-01-11T18:13:47","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T23:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=8652"},"modified":"2018-06-28T13:32:19","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T17:32:19","slug":"a-chat-with-stepbrother-film-critics-dale-doback-and-brennan-huff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/a-chat-with-stepbrother-film-critics-dale-doback-and-brennan-huff\/","title":{"rendered":"A Chat with Stepbrother Film Critics Dale Doback and Brennan Huff"},"content":{"rendered":"

In November 2017, a California film critic named Brennan Huff went viral after posting a controversial essay on acclaimed filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson. Not only did Huff model his piece on Kendrick Lamar\u2019s \u201cDNA\u201d lyrics, but he also posted a profanity-laced video clip to \u201cknock PTA down for an eight-count. A \u2018Hard Eight.\u2019\u201d Huff\u2019s essay \u2014 \u201cPTA: There Will Be Duds\u201d \u2014 explores Anderson\u2019s entire filmography, including his latest, Phantom Thread<\/i>. Many have pointed out problematic passages in the piece (which consists of iPhone Notes screenshots), most notably that Huff suggests There Will Be Blood\u2019s<\/i> Daniel Plainview is a real-life oilman, \u201cprobably plucked from North Dakota.\u201d Huff also claims that Boogie Nights\u2019<\/i> Dirk Diggler \u201clikely doesn\u2019t have an actual penis,\u201d and that Anderson\u2019s entire film can be \u201cproperly understood\u201d from that point of view.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Huff\u2019s stepbrother, Dale Doback, also a film critic, became a trending topic for lashing out against fellow critics on a variety of movie-related topics.<\/span><\/p>\n

To properly<\/i> understand the stepbrothers, I met with them to discuss their cinematic influences and digital-age film criticism. When I arrived at their Hollywood apartment, Brennan, wearing a David Foster Wallace-style bandana, greeted me with a question.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s an \u2018oeuvre?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The high-pitched inflection suggested that I was being tested, and I responded with the correct answer and appropriate tone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re good,\u201d Brennan replied. \u201cWelcome \u2026 welcome to our universe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For our interview, Huff suggested we walk down Hollywood Boulevard, but he first welcomed me into his apartment (located across the courtyard from Dale\u2019s), which had clearly been staged with several Roger Ebert books and unopened Criterion Collection Blu-rays. When Dale emerged, he was dressed to impress, seemingly taking inspiration from 808s and Heartbreak<\/i>-era Kanye West.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Fargo, walk with me,\u201d Doback said. (Having learned where I was from, he called me \u201cFargo\u201d the whole time.) \u201cI got work to do, so we need to make this quick<\/i>.\u201d And so we hit the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, with Brennan often drifting behind to chat with Japanese tourists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hough:<\/b> Dale, tell me about your writing process. You often tweet about your \u201cSalinger shack.\u201d Is that a real thing?<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> It\u2019s his bathroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> It\u2019s where I find peace, Brennan. A man needs his space.<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> He\u2019s like the Ghost Dog of toilet film criticism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> Yeah, more like Le Samoura\u00ef. <\/i>But you wouldn\u2019t understand that, would you, Brennan? <\/i>Look, Fargo, when I\u2019m locked in, I can\u2019t lose focus with all these Hollywood temptations. Just look around. When I\u2019m vibing out \u2014 when I\u2019m creating art<\/i> \u2014 I\u2019m in a different world, OK? I\u2019m looking for truth<\/i>. I\u2019m looking for\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> Retweets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> Yes, Brennan, I get the occasional retweet. But it\u2019s not about that. You know this.<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> My mom said it\u2019s only<\/i> about retweets. And Mr. Dill-bag [Doback] said that, too. <\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> Super funny, Brennan. That\u2019s fan fiction. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hough:<\/b> Speaking of retweets, both of you post iPhone Notes screenshots of your reviews and essays. That\u2019s quite an unorthodox approach. Have you ever considered writing for a traditional film outlet?<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> Computers give me headaches. Also, my iMac has a technical glitch at the moment. So\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> His brother Derek spilled an iced caramel macchiato on it at Starbucks while writing his shitty screenplay.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hough<\/b>: A screenwriter, huh? Brennan, do you share the same influences with your brother?<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> Derek is always<\/i> <\/b>under the influence, Fargo, usually at night on Sunset Boulevard. Like Gena Rowlands, except with a pocket full of fifties. <\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> Classic Jarmusch reference. Bravo.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hough:<\/b> Actually\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> To answer your question: Derek, he\u2019s into disaster flicks. Me, I like a little Tyler Perry and the occasional summer blockbuster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> So, yes. They do<\/i> share the same influences. They\u2019re both under the influence \u2014 under the influence of the Hollywood system<\/i>. What I\u2019m saying is that they\u2019re Hollywood whores.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hough:<\/b> Thanks, Dale. Let\u2019s talk about Film Twitter. You\u2019ve both earned strong followings through your screenshot reviews.<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> Hey, can you stop saying \u201cscreenshot reviews\u201d like it\u2019s a bad thing? <\/span><\/p>\n

Hough:<\/b> To be completely honest, Brennan, you often confuse important details in your screenshot reviews, like when you claimed that Daniel Plainview is a North Dakota oilman. Have you seen There Will Be Blood<\/i> in its entirety?<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> Cinema \u2026 cinema is about interpreting the subtext, is it not? Hemingway\u2019s Iceberg Theory, right? Leo and Kate, Jack and Rose, in a parallel Titanic<\/i> universe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hough<\/b>: Wait, what? I don\u2019t think you understand the Iceberg Theory, or Titanic<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback<\/b>: That\u2019s his Mom talking. They don\u2019t know shit about PTA or Cameron. Talk about a woman under the influence<\/i>. And don\u2019t say \u201cSEE-NEE-MAH\u201d like you\u2019re some European hotshot, Brennan. You\u2019re not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> That is offensive and hurtful. I love \u2026 cinema.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> Yeah, you love mommy\u2019s MoviePass subscription. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hough:<\/b> Brennan, you must tell me about the bandana. Based on your social media accounts, it seems to be part of your cinephile image. <\/span><\/p>\n

Huff: <\/b>Hmm. Last time I checked, you weren\u2019t following me on Twitter or<\/i> Instagram. Look, friend, I\u2019m just a guy that wakes up and puts on Fruit of the Loom boxer briefs, and a matching bandana from Target. Why don\u2019t you tell me why you dress like a midwestern lame-ass<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> Whoa, Brennan \u2014 what did your<\/i> mom and my<\/i> dad say about that kind of talk? No MoviePass for a month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> I\u2019ll just use Derek\u2019s MoviePass. Enjoy your streaming subscriptions on your iPhone4 while I\u2019m experiencing glorious 3D.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hough:<\/b> Back to the bandana: Brennan, you caption many Instagram posts with \u201cBirth. Bandana. Death.\u201d So, it seems like you put some extra thought into your public image. And just like Dale\u2019s \u201cSalinger shack\u201d is obviously inspired by J.D. Salinger, you seem to be inspired by David Foster Wallace, or perhaps James Ponsoldt\u2019s 2015 film The End of the Tour<\/i>, which is about<\/i> Wallace. You also recited some of the film\u2019s dialogue, word for word, when I arrived. <\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> Derek told him that a bandana might get him some ass.<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> Maybe I like to keep people guessing, and maybe you\u2019re a pretentious ass<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hough<\/b>: Is that directed towards me?<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> I got this, Fargo. I\u2019m not the one trying to be someone else, am I, Brennan?<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> Really<\/i>? Look at yourself. You look like a Kanye West, Silver Lake f***. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hough:<\/b> Oh, geez. Last question before we hit Buffalo Wild Wings. I know you guys have to work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> Gotta work for the man: my big bro, a mango-habanero mogul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hough:<\/b> It\u2019s apparent that you spend a lot of time searching your name and feel inclined to respond to online trolls, especially you, Dale. What do you think Film Twitter, and the entire Internet in general, gets wrong about you? Give me one sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doback:<\/b> That I\u2019m all style and no substance. That I don\u2019t feel raw emotion<\/i> like everyone else. That I\u2019ve got nothing serious to say<\/i> about Film Twitter culture, and that I haven\u2019t contributed<\/i> to Film Twitter culture. I do<\/i> this for the culture, ok? We\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Hough:<\/b> OK, got it. Brennan?<\/span><\/p>\n

Huff:<\/b> Only one sentence? That I\u2019m not a passionate<\/i> content provider.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Q.V. Hough<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>is founding editor of Vague Visages<\/a> and lives in sunny Fargo, N.D.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In November 2017, a California film critic named Brennan Huff went viral after posting a controversial essay on acclaimed filmmaker […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":524,"featured_media":8654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[336,1381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humor","category-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/524"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}