Extremely happy that I finally get to announce this: for Film Movement's new box set dedicated to the films of Lee Isaac Chung, I wrote the essay covering his film Lucky Life! Beyond thankful to @jlalibs.com for this opportunity, and can't wait to share it. vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/...

Hot take: The Odyssey is good.

BREAKING: After legal setbacks, President Trump says he's dropping push for the National Guard in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland for now.

The final Calvin and Hobbes, which appeared in papers 30 years ago today.

Over 1.3 million people still need urgent shelter while 740,000 face toxic flooding from collapsed sanitation systems due to Israel's bombardment. Winter rains and collapsing buildings from Israel's genocide have killed at least 20 Palestinians. Cartoon by Carlos Latuff.

RIP to isiah whitlock jr., who swung so perfectly in THE WIRE b/t jovial backslapping aw-shucks politics and incredibly petty, deeply menacing villainy. the elongated "sheeeittt" catchphrase was a delight and a threat. the number of THE WIRE actors who are dying ... I hate it.

Pouring out a cold “sheiiiiiiiiiit” for a real one.

Doctor Who: Inferno (1970)

Really interesting how Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan’s album of break-up songs, had nothing whatsoever to do with the collapse of his marriage.

Israel says it will suspend several humanitarian groups, including Doctors Without Borders, in 2026 for failing its new vetting rules for groups working in Gaza. Some international organizations have said that Israel’s rules are arbitrary and could endanger staff.

How much do centaurs have to eat? Do they have distinct human and horse stomachs? Can they digest all the same things? Does the human half eat grass? If so, does it gag?

For all the dishy details about Greene's interactions with Trump in Draper's profile, I feel like this is the real meat of the piece and a sign of where the GOP is going: Trump disappointed MTG and MAGA by prioritizing big tech donors over populists. (GIFT LINK) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/m...

🎶 Oh, what an interesting morning / Oh, what an interesting day 🎶

she just got the house to pass her bill criminalizing trans care for people under 18 years old. the only mention in this piece is about how she’s upset trump hasn’t done *enough* to harm trans kids. oh and a quote from her saying trans people are all “perverted”. what is going on at NYT?

The succeeding in question

I’m never sad when Nazis die.

A few months ago Redford passed away and today it is like the anti Redford passed away. If you’re a hottie try to live in such a way that your wretchedness as a person doesn’t over shadow your hotness

Nolan is obsessed with the techno-mythology of Bond/Ridley Scott/Kubrick. Great figures ushering in technological progress. Probably going to be his way into Homer too: the Trojan horse signals the birth of modern warfare.

this isn’t even a political statement btw it’s a craft one. A plotless novel is fine. A choiceless one is bad.

The way @timheidecker.bsky.social eats noodles in On Cinema is super upsetting.

Sama'a works day in and day out to keep her family alive, and our aid is the slender line she relies on to keep them fed and sheltered. Please give what you can.

It’s almost like the NYT and the American press at large cover news as if the rich and powerful are public life’s protagonists taking on an unruly world.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian in Gaza, carry out raids across West Bank https://aje.io/t285fu

I have some notes for a LOTR storygame, which is based upon the understanding that LoTR is about four elements in exactly equal proportions: walking, feeling sad about walking, singing songs about dead people and action. 1:1:1:1, like a cake.

what I love about LotR is that it is at its heart about moving through a melancholy landscape largely filled with ruins, faded histories and legends - I would have filmed it that way and cut the fights to a bare minimum, plus add Merry's interest in comparative philology as a major plot element

Pre-Code sound movies are fascinating. Film still figuring itself out. Also the last time Hollywood movies were allowed to Say Things.

Tiny Tim, who's death was detailed in an obscure work of 2nd Century pseudepigrapha.

God, I hate it when he's funny.

And The Dude, who DID abide

This is Western NY erasure

Can you confirm, @triumphicdhq.bsky.social?

This Christmas Eve, spare a thought for those in need. My friend Sama'a and her family rely on our generosity to survive, and they need us now more than ever. tinyurl.com/SamaasFamily

Nah, we good.

I’d never seen this before, so figured I should spread the Christmas cheer.

Awfully nice of Santa to visit McMurdo Station in Antarctica, which is populated by only about 150 people at this time of year. Not sure how many of them are children though, which makes the stop both possibly inadvisable and extra generous.

Anybody who makes a Die Hard porn parody has their work cut out for them. They don’t even have to change the title. It’s perfect.

Have had a comprehensively dreadful day, so I’m wrapping it up with A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott. One of my few consistent Christmas traditions. Always a blast.

I’m afraid The Sound of Music holds up extraordinarily well. Just a sublime use of film.

I would like to speak to barometric pressure’s manager.

Every single journalist and television producer I’ve ever worked with is more qualified for Bari Weiss’ job than she is.

Muffled Gunshot Heard From Inside Otto The Orange Costume

Taylor Swift is Morrissey with less transparent shittiness.

really cannot be emphasized enough that bari weiss has literally never done journalism. i don’t mean that in the pejorative sense. i mean that in the “has never performed the job she was hired to do” sense

Bari Weiss this morning on the 60 Minutes segment: "We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera." Of course, most journalists know that oftentimes people who are the subject of negative reporting don't want to speak on camera or on the record.

Bari Weiss apparently spiked Sharyn Alfonsi’s 60 Minutes segment on CECOT for political reasons. Here’s her email to the news staff. Sharyn Alfonsi has more guts than every single beltway reporter.

Awful, tragic news. Such an underappreciated actor; Ziggy Sobotka is one of The Wire’s great recurring characters. www.the-independent.com/arts-enterta...

Recently heard somebody argue that if people get their packages stolen, it’s their fault for ordering online, which is a fun and stupid kind of thinking that ultimately leads to “what were you wearing?”