This year’s film-festival circuit produced a rich array of movies: existential thrillers, whodunits, musicals, and more. @shirklesxp.bsky.social on the 14 standouts to add to your watch list this season:

We strongly condemn the actions taken by Nexstar and Disney-ABC to pull JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! off the air.

Hello! @sophiegilbert.bsky.social and I will be on Reddit later today to talk this weekend's Emmys, because as they say about TV, a little counterprogramming goes a long way. Who's "they"? Who knows, but that's a question you can ask us during our AMA! See you there at 3 pm EST!

Francis Ford Coppola’s epic box-office bomb, “Megalopolis,” fits the vague outlines of a future cult classic. But the director’s attempts to mythologize the movie reveal how difficult it is to actually build a devoted fan base, writes @shirklesxp.bsky.social:

As kids’ TV has become more sprawling, figuring out what’s actually enriching has become more daunting than ever. @shirklesxp.bsky.social reports on recent cuts to public-media funding, the growing pains of children’s entertainment—and where it’s headed: https://theatln.tc/pCD9t51V

The “Star Wars” story “Andor,” whose series finale aired last night, questioned the franchise’s good-and-evil dichotomy—and wasn’t afraid to blur the lines, writes @shirklesxp.bsky.social:

The film “Warfare,” now streaming, is a visceral reimagining of a harrowing day during the Iraq War—and in co-director Ray Mendoza’s life. “I don’t know what’s real and what’s not real sometimes,” the former Navy SEAL tells @shirklesxp.bsky.social:

wrote about it: www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

*Terrific* piece by @skornhaber.bsky.social about how the language and metaphors of video games have become central in the world of highly-online, Trump-positive young-dude streamers ... ... and how it inflects their political thinking: www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

Gift links to the Signal leak pieces (second one is the transcripts): 1. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc... 2. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The director Bong Joon Ho’s first film since “Parasite” is a big, weird, occasionally messy sci-fi romp. But even if it might feel familiar, “Mickey 17” is still unmistakably original, writes @shirklesxp.bsky.social:

@shirklesxp.bsky.social and @davidlsims.bsky.social are watching this year’s Oscars to see who will take home awards—and whether any lesser-known films snag an upset. On Monday, they’ll answer all your questions about the awards show on Reddit. Ask them anything. www.reddit.com/r/movies/

The Oscars host Conan O'Brien opened the evening by playing the unruly jester—to delightful effect, writes @shirklesxp.bsky.social:

Happy #Oscars Sunday! I wrote about this year's biggest snub: C̶h̶a̶l̶l̶e̶n̶g̶e̶r̶s̶ Johanne Sacreblu, for @theatlantic.com: www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

“Hard Truths” finds humor in a bitter housewife’s perpetual grumpiness. But the film’s brilliance—overlooked by this year’s Oscars—lies in its astonishingly sensitive approach, writes @shirklesxp.bsky.social:

A really lovely essay by @nancywalecki.bsky.social, who is a seventh-generation Californian. Worth reading: www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Hey, Bluesky friends: I work on The Atlantic’s advice column “Dear James,” written by the inimitable James Parker. Is anything ailing, torturing, or nagging at you? Are you beset by existential worries? James would love to hear from you: [email protected]. Threading some examples...

Really nice piece by @shirklesxp.bsky.social about some of the year’s most interesting and relevant cinematic statements www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

I'm sure I wasn't the only one struck by Demi Moore's speech at the Golden Globes on Sunday. For @theatlantic.com, I look back at her work in The Substance, along with two other films also about (and led by) women wrestling with age and their fading stardom: www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

“Squid Game” expands beyond its hyper-violent playground activities in Season 2. But the show is best when it’s at its most brutal, writes @shirklesxp.bsky.social:

Netflix’s adaptation of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” succeeds by conjuring the idiosyncratic beauty of Gabriel García Márquez’s prose, writes @shirklesxp.bsky.social:

Another year, another list of best TV shows for @theatlantic.com! In truth I spent a lot of these past months doing my umpteenth rewatch of LOST—we just *have* to go back—but in between visits to the Island, I fell in love with quite a few other series. Here goes: www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” blends the reality of life in Iran with the horrors of watching a family fall apart, writes @shirklesxp.bsky.social:

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Happy Thanksgiving! I called up Wyna Liu, the woman who makes the NYT Connections, and asked her who in the HECK she thinks she is. www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

Wrote about #Wicked and pitched these headlines to hold space for 'Defying Gravity': -Something Has Changed With 'Wicked' -'Wicked' Is Not the Same -'Wicked' Is Through With Playing By the Rules of Someone Else's Game All rejected. Oh well! For @theatlantic.com: www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

Your dad’s favorite movie finally gets its sequel with “Gladiator II,” @shirklesxp.bsky.social writes, and it’s even more excessive:

So excited to say that GIRL ON GIRL is out April 29! I've been working on this book since 2022, trying to untangle what growing up against the cultural backdrop of the '90s and 2000s did to women. The research has been wild, enraging, and clarifying. And cathartic!

Go get @theatlantic.bsky.social's Starter Pack: go.bsky.app/NVbMa2Y

SAY NOTHING really cooks as an adaptation to @praddenkeefe.bsky.social's stellar book "Sometimes, the series argues, history yields no heroes or villains, just people whose convictions curdle into confusion, and whose wounds never fully heal." www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

Back in 2023, I visited the set of Hulu's #InteriorChinatown, a show about how Hollywood's storytelling rarely matches how we see ourselves—an idea that its star, Jimmy O. Yang, embodies. I profiled him for The Atlantic's December issue: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc... @theatlantic.bsky.social

a delightful gift guide with picks you won't find anywhere else—do you know anyone who wants the 54-pound warren commission report? or maybe a Los Alamos staff mug? www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

Sean Baker's latest film, #Anora, is a sterling entry into a filmography packed with profoundly vivid tales of outsiders, but its success has created in him "a somewhat existential crisis." For The Atlantic, I spoke to him about the hustle of indie cinema: www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

#Megalopolis left me nonplussed, so I asked Francis Ford Coppola why he made a film that actively rejects the rules of filmmaking. There’s much I’m still baffled by, but at least we both love Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. For @theatlantic.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

Reimagining the '90s disaster flick TWISTER may seem like an odd move for Lee Isaac Chung, the Oscar-nominated director of MINARI, to make. But to him, it was a no-brainer. For @theatlantic.bsky.social's latest issue, I profiled Chung and his journey to TWISTERS: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

FURIOSA is not FURY ROAD. It's a sprawling, complex emotional odyssey (and thus exactly the kind of film I love to write about). My review, for @theatlantic.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

For @theatlantic.bsky.social, I looked back on the rebooted Planet of the Apes films, in part because I enjoy them immensely (Team Maurice 4 Life)... www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

FX's #Shogun is an excellent, sophisticated epic. For @theatlantic.bsky.social, I wrote about what I think is the secret to the show's success: its careful consideration of the samurai, one of the most influential—and most misunderstood—hero types in pop culture. www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

omg hi i forgot i had this what are we all doing here