I enjoyed Knight of the Seven Kingdoms so I’ve started Game of Thrones, and it turns out the big twist of S1 is that Ned Stark is really dumb, which I’ll admit is a fun way to kick off a series.
I think it’s simpler. As we age we gradually reveal more of our essential nature, with fewer and fewer ego masks. If it looks like evolution it’s because the person desired to evolve. If it looks like Tarantino it’s because there wasn’t much substance there to begin with.
Just got a DM from a character from my old evangelical days, wanting to discuss Iran.
That Haskell Wexler guy was pretty good.
"All I saw was workers killing workers" would be a pretty good tattoo. (Yes, I just rewatched Matewan.)
I don't begrudge anyone for hating it, but I came out of the theater on an unexpected cinema high!
You and Moira need to check out The Bride, a significantly richer text than the latest Wuthering Heights. I love almost every second of it, much to my surprise (and delight).
You really need to come to Big Ears, Jake.
I loved that show at the time and, not coincidentally, had a MASSIVE crush on Tea Leoni.
The final spark was watching Christian family members, friends, and our entire congregation line up enthusiastically behind George W. Bush and his grotesque wars.
When interesting and unexpected films drop on Mubi or Criterion I can usually guess which programmer is responsible. Who are the curators at Tubi?! So much cool shit squirreled away on there.
sitting with the proposition that the US arbitrarily declaring this round of slaughter over and victory accomplished no matter what's happening on the ground only to then at some unforeseeable but inevitable time in the future getting hit with 9/11 II might be some kind of "best case scenario"
Next up in my Sayles-a-thon: Baby, It’s You (1983), his first studio production. Much to recommend about this one, most importantly that no one has ever been hotter than young Rosanna Arquette and Vincent Spano, lit and shot by Michael Ballhaus.
I just realized the familiar face that keeps popping up in early Sayles movies is The Greek from S2 of The Wire.
Your mileage may vary, but I’m on a cinema high.
I kinda want to see it again — ideally in a double bill with Denis’s Bastards.
Have seen it?
I’m not the contrarian, hot-take type, so believe me when I say The Bride is really good, actually. Del Toro and Eggers make museum pieces; Gyllenhaal made a movie that is very much alive and full of contemptuous rage, while also making room for a few decent jokes. I like it! 🤷🏻♂️
I changed positions at my university two years and now have authority to decide how to spend my conference travel budget. So far, zero dollars spent.
Is there a reason John Sayles's LIANNA (1983) isn't more prominent in the discourse around lesbian/queer cinema? Is it just underseen? Granted, Sayles is a cis-hetero filmmaker, and the movie is a bit clunky, but I can't think of many American films of the era that are so complex and sympathetic.
Sayles name-checks Wellman in the script of Lianna!
With 30+ years of hindsight, the best band of the grunge era was Rage Against the Machine.
David Lynch's compound has been sold. This is where he made quinoa. robbreport.com/shelter/cele...
Is Tropical Park on your to-see list? I really love that film and would love for more people to see it.
I’m a huge fan of Tropical Park, if you can catch it.
I was volunteering as an ESL teacher when the Iraq war began and had a student who was a Turkish Kurd. My advice to all Americans? Volunteer as an ESL teacher. It was the most transformative experience of my life.
Spotted a Dave Matthews Band t-shirt when I dropped off my daughter at high school. I'm trying to think of the what the equivalent would've been for my generation. Rolling up to school in 1989 in a Gary Puckett & The Union Gap shirt? What's a terrible band from the '60s that too many people liked?
Who's rooting for the other team? ✋
If I had to pick a single all-time favorite TV joke
Harper Lee was out of town that weekend, so she sent her regrets for my wedding, but she and her sister Alice sent a nice gift.
