Twin Peaks, pilot and episodes one and two at the Astor

My interview with Hamnet direcot Chloé Zhao...

This is just the start of the backlash

Terms of reference for the royal commission:

Don’t forget to leave water out for animals and to blame fossil fuel companies. #heatwave #bushfires #Exxon #Shell #BP #SaudiAramco #Woodside #Santos

nickfeik.substack.com/p/weaponisin... This analysis from Nick Feik is profound especially as there is talk of the PM caving to a shameless campaign

How the psychoanalytic practice of dreamwork shaped one of the biggest films of 2025: “It changed how I work,” 'Hamnet' director Chloé Zhao says. “It changed my life.”

DELL EXEC: Consumers are “not buying based on AI. In fact I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them understand a specific outcome." @pcgamer.com #CES www.pcgamer.com/hardware/del...

"The camera is truly able to capture the energy of presence, and then that presence transcends time and space," says director Chloé Zhao. "It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from – you are going to feel the presence of the grief of that woman.”

My interview with Andrew Dominik, director of "Chopper", "Assassination of Jesse James...", "Blonde" and two Nick Dave documentaries, is now up at @thecurbau.bsky.social. A fascinating and fearless guy.

Your Name (2016)

One from the Canberra Times, which accused Albo of gaslighting the population. I’ve never seen the CT go so hard on an issue and I noted in an earlier post that it looks like the Zionist lobby has got to them big time.

Should we push for a better UN that doesn’t reward the powerful by making them unaccountable? Absolutely. Should we scrap it altogether? No. 👉 theconversation.com/venezue...

Worse than Abyss.

Sir Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood will reunite as Gandalf and Frodo in ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM’ Production will begin in May. (via: Gollumgram)

And here it is. The Best Australian Films of 2025. Sign up to our free or paid newsletter to read the full list: www.thecurb.com.au/best-austral...

Or someone is having another crack at Goodbye Pork Pie. @tonymartin.bsky.social would know.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand...

TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films has been updated for 2026. theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm

“I had expected fatherhood to change me,” @galuten.bsky.social writes. But when he started watching movie musicals with his daughter, he realized he hadn’t known the half of it.

The response by the media and political class to previous Australian mass shootings was firstly to set aside partisan politics in the spirit of healing and solidarity. In the weeks following the Bondi massacre, the mainstream media has done the opposite... @nickfeik.bsky.social

Oh, just get vaccinated (part 5,000) "Many shots seem to have “off-target” benefits, such as lowering the risk of dementia, studies have found." (gift article)

Yay! With thousands of feral horses gone, Kosciuszko’s fragile ecosystems are slowly recovering theconversation.com/with-thousan...

Russia's ambassador to the UK, Yakovenko, boasted about Brexit to another diplomat: “We have crushed the British to the ground. They are on their knees and will not rise for a very long time” Today, Farage’s close ally, leader of Reform in Wales, was sentenced to 10yrs for taking bribes from Russia.

I'm seriously starting to question the credibility of the FIFA Peace Prize.

NYT gonna NYT: "Both Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Maduro identify as socialists, though they have no relationship.” — would be funny if they did this every time you write about two capitalists. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...

I can’t verify what’s in this confession, but it certainly seems plausible. “I'm a developer for a major food delivery app. The 'Priority Fee' and 'Driver Benefit Fee' go 100% to the company. The driver sees $0 of it.” Loathsome manipulation and exploitation.

Off to a good start

Truly ridiculous that I've spent three days of my holiday squishing just north of 50 films into a three-part, near 6000-word wrap, but if you're still playing along at home, here's the top ten at long last bit.ly/3YSh9zv

If you haven't gotten vaccinated against flu, please do www.usatoday.com/story/graphi...

The Great Orion Nebula and the Belt of Orion with a faint Flame Nebula too. 30 December 2025. 🔭 🧪 🎨 #astrophotography #SciArt #photography #StormHour #ThePhotoHour

“it’s a wonderful life” (1946) remains the best christmas film about the importance of mutual aid during the decline of capitalism.

It’s all about social cohesion, which is why we’re relentlessly hammering a guy who had nothing to do with it, and launching a hate campaign against “immigration”

The painful memories of Port Arthur also carry important lessons for Australia’s political leaders about how to comfort a community and lead the nation through trauma, @crystaljane.bsky.social writes.

hey they wrote a book for you

With Die My Love arriving on MUBI today, here’s my interview with its director, Lynne Ramsay, for The Saturday Paper.

They’re finally letting Nancy Meyers make movies again. Meyers told an audience in LA that she begins shooting a new movie this May. Kieran Culkin will star. Is it her axed Netflix project, ‘Paris Paramount’?

LITTLE WOMAN IS A CHRISTMAS MOVIE. now watching (90s version with Winona Ryder)

A fascinating article about the collapse of language.

So, is this hate speech?

Nick's shoutout even more relevant after appalling coverage of Bondi by mainstream media. Uncritical parroting of Netanyahu and Hanson, blaming protestors, and ramping up anti-migrant racism. Great ep from @osmanfaruqi.bsky.social & @scottmitchell.bsky.social . podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/h...

“If we’re to emerge from this awful spiral,” writes @jeffsparrow1.bsky.social, “we’ll only do so on the basis of a very different politics: one that takes for granted the ability of ordinary people — of any race, gender or creed — to unite against racism and violence.”

theshot.net.au/uncategorize... “Be angry at Netanyahu, Israelis voted in as their leader, fugitive from International War Crimes Commission, a man who orders & celebrates incineration of innocent children in refugee camp tents, who is now bobbing up to lecture Aus on morals & sanctity of human life.

Behold: the first-ever list of news outlets that have banned generative AI in their reporting. As of today, this is literally information that you cannot find on Google. My goal is to fill the starter pack, so please send over suggestions with supporting evidence! go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT

The deadline for contributions is Friday, January 2, 2026. The World Poll will be published in Issue 116 in January 2026. If you wish to review previous World Polls, they can be accessed at sensesofcinema.com/category/world-poll/ See the Call for Contributions on our website for full details.

Tasmania has estimated its total liability for child sexual abuse claims at over $600 million. You cannot tell me that this didn’t deserve national attention, or that these stories wouldn’t have been leading national bulletins for weeks if they broke in Melbourne or Sydney. | @nickfeik.bsky.social

Opinion | Nowhere has the slow death of investigative journalism been felt more acutely than in Tasmania.

This is my cyclical reminder that there's really only one consistently reliable source of info in the public record that isn't owned by right wing billionaires, who really want to put an end to it. Please give at least the $2.75 minimum they request if you can. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page