Saying assless chaps is redundant. They’re by nature already assless.

Swear her in.

You could not more perfectly invert the whole point of the power of the purse than this false notion the legislature cutting off appropriations means the executive gets more power.

Happy 90th BDay Dame Julie. You are the reason I am the film buff I am.

The Conjuring: Last Rites (25): Tries to smash so much story into an already too long movie. Still, it’s watchable. Farmiga and Wilson know these characters well, but the hard emotional plot turns felt cheap and the rest of the ensemble doesn’t pop. Weird choices throughout. C

One Battle After Another (25): It’s an instant masterpiece that revs with energy from the first frame. Technically resplendent, thematically prescient, and performed with ferocious empathy, this feels like a summation of PTA’s illustrious career. Leo’s my acting MVP. Ends with a perfect finale. A

PTA here we go… #NowWatching One Battle After Another

Nobody Wants This (24, S1): The writing feels fresh even dealing with familiar tropes. They continually find ways to subvert audience expectations. Secondly, the easy charms of Bell and Brody, individually and together, just elevate every moment. Can’t wait for season 2. A-

Strangers on a Train (51): Gorgeously shot in stark and occasionally wild black and white, Hitchcock pushes for something darker and insidious in another of his tales of obsession and suspense. The script has maybe one too many threads but it’s a beguiling creation. B+

Call Jane (22): The elastic tone does make for some jarring transitions, but with a stellar lead turn by Banks, the awakening of our heroine’s mind is gorgeously rendered in this nifty, prescient little drama. Weaver’s a hoot, and the stakes always feel appropriately high. B

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (2025) - Official Trailer Streaming: October 24, 2025 Netflix #AHouseOfDynamite www.whentostream.com/news/netflix...

Moonlight (16): A Black, Queer tone poem and memory piece rolled into one beautifully with soft neon colors. I look forward to specific line readings, gestures, and music cues like action set pieces. That score! That photography! Mahershala! It’s a miracle of a movie. A+

Moulin Rouge! (01): Designed and edited within an inch of its life, Luhrmann pulls off his meta, post-modern musical with panache and heart. Feels more ambitious with each year. Kidman is a genius-level muse, and McGregor is open-hearted joy. El Tango Roxanne is perfection. A+

Jimmy Kimmel's Monologue now has 14.3 MILLION VIEWS on YouTube. It would be a shame for you to share it www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1tj...

The English Patient (96): Sensuous romance coupled with ferocious intelligence makes this an epic I happily return to. The three leads are sensational, and each push past the genre for more idiosyncratic choices. Every level of the production has rich texture and design. A-

One Night in Miami... (20): Crowd-pleasing and poignant. Makes arguments engaging without ever being didactic. Found a pall of sadness over film much more affecting on this rewatch. Expertly cast and well-performed across the ensemble. Still wish the photography had more to say. B+

Steel Magnolias (89): Deftly moves from tears to laughs and from character-specific drama to jokes that play to bathhouse sometimes all in the same scene. Every role is uniformly well-cast and performed, but the ferocious Field and the effervescent Parton always stick out most for me. B+/A-

Are you okay with this, GOP? Wait, don’t answer that.

Waterloo Bridge (40): Furtive, prescient weepy thst hinges on the fate and performance of our lead heroine. Leigh per usual delivers a turn brimming her wild energy and laser sharp emotional capabilities. She elevates every moment when wooden Robert Taylor can’t keep up. B

West Side Story (61): Despite their noted on-set tension, director Robert Wise and co-director/choreographer Jerome Robbins actually work better together than they may have known. The camera and cuts match the verve of the choreography, and choreography has been adapted slightly to lead the

Bonjour Tristesse (58): Preminger crafts an ambitious (and beautiful) film that’s too predicated on the whims of the bratty lead character to ever mine the emotional depths the ending should elicit. Seberg is not good enough to carry it, but Kerr makes the most of an odd part. B-

The Darjeeling Limited (07): It’s beautifully made. The lush tracking shots, the collage style editing, and soundtrack work beautifully. Story-wise though, this whiffs hard. The white man exoticism of India and the bad dad tropes just feel like retreads. The emotions feel phony. C+

WGA Statement on ABC’s Decision to Pull Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Exactly this

Bob Iger, RAPTUROUSLY thanked by "Andor" writer Dan Gilroy at the Emmys, is on the spot to prove if giving a green light to a TV show about an encroaching authoritarian regime that attempts to hijack all notions of truth means he watched and understood the show, or just likes making money.

the joke that got Kimmel kicked off ABC isn't even at the expense of Charlie Kirk. the way the US is accelerating in fascism is truly scaring the shit out of me!

The Department of Justice has removed a study showing that white supremacist and far-right violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism” in the United States. 🔗 www.404media.co/doj-deletes-...

After Charlie Kirk’s murder, Trump and his allies wasted no time crafting an insidious and baseless narrative: that the left is violent, the right is under siege, and only they can restore order. Sound familiar? The Nazis tried the same playbook.

RIP Robert Redford. One of the seminal movie stars of the New Hollywood, he took his matinees idol looks and parlayed it into a career hellbent on playing against those stereotypes. He’s was a consistently wily performer pushing himself even if the role didn’t ask for it.

Twilight (08): Despite good work by Stewart, who is clearly elevating the whole piece, this first installment left me cold and slightly annoyed at how bad the filmmaking is. I’m intrigued enough by the story to continue with the future films, but woof. It’s pretty poor. C-

Ballerina (25): It’s fine. I do like de Armas—she’s a charming and compelling, and per usual the cinematography is top notch. There’s so many amateurish twists and plot machinations that start to overshadow the terrific action. Still it’s good enough. B-

Sense and Sensibility (95): The generosity in Lee’s direction bolsters Thompson’s tacit, crowd-pleasing script fully realizing an Austen adaptation brimming with grace and humor. So many MVPs in performance, but Rickman and Winslet particularly in the final scenes slayed me. A-

Kick ass Shoulder Sunday. The show must go on.

The Intern (15): Well-made, well performed and most of all pleasant, Nancy goes back to her roots with a woman finding her self in work and life. Hathaway and DeNiro are terrific separately and together. All the young dudes almost sink it, but the film’s dynamics are anything but banal. B

CODA (21): On rewatch, the two centerpiece scenes (the post-concert, truck scene and the final audition) really elevate some very sitcom-y passages with well-earned emotions and good performances. Wish it had any ideas behind the camera, but I still enjoy its sense of place. B-

Leave the gun; take the cannoli.

Hail, Caesar (16): Grows and improves with each viewing. Funnier, deeper, and more textured throughout. The performances are uniformly feel more lived-in too esp. Brolin and Ehrenreich. “No Dames” still slaps. But the real stars are Gonchor’s impeccable sets and Zophres lovely costumes. B+

Babygirl (24): There’s a compelling, watchable movie in here even if I am more impressed by the ideas than by actual execution. I wish the writing went as subversive as the expressive direction does. Kidman is in peak form here-vulnerable and gutsy, but Dickinson is her equal. Choice needle drops. B

In a rewatch mood…

Four or five GOP Senators or Congressmen meeting w/ Trump and saying, "We know he's your guy, but he's a dumb freak who's going to hurt you and you should cut him loose" could end this. They won't do it, not because they're afraid but because they LIKE being afraid. The party's fetish is servility.

The Devil Wears Prada (06): A woman’s trial by fire couched in stylish entertainment. Chewy, rewatchable and infinitely quotable, Streep finds new comedic layers in every line, Hathaway always capable and winning but the show is stolen by Blunt’s acid-etched bon mots and Tucci’s stealth heart. B+

Kinda a mixed bag

The Town (10): As muscular and taut as Affleck’s agenda-pushing shirtless scenes. Jokes aside, the film is top-tier popcorn filmmaking with terrific performances by Hall and especially Renner doing his best modern-day Cagney. Lively and Hamm fell flatter, but the set pieces still have real power. B+

Center Stage (00): A good dance movie that gets into the neurosis and fleeting career of a dancer baked into a pretty standard teen dramedy. The dance numbers have verve and are beautifully choreographed. The acting is slightly wooden save for a standout Zoe Saldana. B-/C+

Star Wars (77): The binary sunset,  the BEST SCORE EVER, the brilliant art direction, the Max Rebo Band, Peter Cushing, Ford, Fisher, and James Earl MF-ing Jones etc. Plays beautifully in archetypes with specificity and panache. Impeccable and deservedly instantly iconic. A+