That Mary Elizabeth Winstead kerfuffle that happened last March (i.e., my tweeting that her performance in 10 Cloverfield Lave was overacted, which inspired a mob of Twitter bitches to call for my disemboweling) reminded me of a basic human trait. If you say something even mildly contentious to or about a celebrity, people will foam at the mouth. It’s a monkey-obeisance instinct, built into our genes. ”We love you, important movie star! That guy who said those unkind things? We’ll defend you by beating him to a pulp!”

It happened again last night. Patton Oswalt had attended last night’s Ghostbusters screening at the Grove, and he tweeted that it was “fun, scary, terrific.” I immediately tweeted the following: “Due respect, Patton, but I’m not buying this. No offense.” The twitter dogs howled and screamed, and their logic was breathtaking. I hadn’t yet seen Ghostbusters (I’m actually catching it tonight) so how could I possibly have a doubting opinion about Patton’s admiring words?

All right, here’s why:  99 times out of 100 “talent” tends to support “talent” when it comes to sharing views about newish, just-seen films. An actor or actress will always turn the other cheek. They’ll never tweet something along the lines of “just saw Ghostbusters…save your money.” I admire Patton for his perceptions on almost all topics, but I must take his opinions of new movies and particularly comedies with a grain of salt. And it doesn’t matter if you say “due respect” and “no offense” — the twitter bitches will still want your head on a stake for not being obsequious enough.