#weeklywestern: LONE STAR (1996). John Sayles' next movie is a Western! Awesome! But he's already in the genre pantheon for this one. A meditation on borders, communities, race and, oh yeah, murder. Hands down one of the best movies of the 1990s. Criterion cover by @thatjacobphillips.bsky.social

80% of what makes movies great is looking at beautiful people on screen so this is a glorious thread full of correct answers to the question.

#moviebooks Well, this isn't exactly a hot take, but PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION by @markharris.bsky.social is fascinating from beginning to end. A clear-eyed look at Hollywood in a period of real transition through the lens of the 1967 Best Picture race. (On the shelf right next to FIVE CAME BACK.)

#weeklywestern: THE MAN FROM COLORADO (1948). Glenn Ford is the Civil War colonel turned Federal Judge gone mad with power and PTSD. William Holden is his closest friend turned Marshal who may have to stop him. Of COURSE they love the same girl. (The cruel authoritarian stuff is...timely.)

one required, but sadly enormous, shift in the way americans view things: recovering an understanding that a democratic government is a collective enterprise that should deliver tangible services and benefits to people

Share a gif from a Western you love

Weekly Western: DESTRY RIDES AGAIN. 100% delightful. Come for dastardly Brian Donlevy & singing Marlene Dietrich. Stay for gun-hating, milk-drinking deputy Jimmy Stewart, here to clean up this town. Art by @marcaspinall.bsky.social and a great essay by @selfstyledsiren.bsky.social at criterion.com

You have more in common with the people of Iran than you do with anyone in this administration, any member of the technocracy, anyone who is profiting from this war, or any billionaire. When you see Iranians forming human chains outside key infrastructure sites, you should feel a sense of kinship.

Immigration now Immigration tomorrow Immigration forever

"Mass immigration is good, socially and economically; is the single most significant factor in America’s current position as the global locus of commerce and culture; we’ve been lucky to have it; and we should want more," writes @felipedlh.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/2080...

At a screening of All Quiet on the Western Front, the guy next to us mercifully finished the loud crunchy nuts he had brought only to then pull out a brush and a full tube of toothpaste and proceed to brush his teeth for SEVERAL MINUTES, spitting regularly into a water bottle.

Hot damn, this is a great list! I've just added SO MANY to my "need to see right now" goals.

The best selection of film-related books on the internet! I can't recommend it highly enough.

When someone says „Scientists do not want you to know“ you can dismiss everything from there on. Scientists want you to know. They are desperate that you know. They can’t shut up about what they found out and want you to know.

I had a fantastic time at Vancouver Fan Expo this past weekend and was able to make a couple excellent additions to the ongoing "My kids as superheroes" sketchbook from the wonderful Steve Skroce and @theartofemilia.bsky.social . Thanks to both!

This is possibly the most effective rebuttal in Bluesky history...

Five panels from V FOR VENDETTA (written by Alan Moore, art by David Lloyd)

BTW when I say abolish ICE, I mean abolish it entirely and replace it with exactly nothing. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. That's it.

this year's nominees for best picture are... bugonia

Our local Film Critics Association always has a great annual awards lineup and this year is no different. I particularly love the award for best performance in a sci-fi or genre film which is named after a couple of beloved local gone-too-soon critics: Jeff Vice and Jimmy Martin.

I’m one of the ProPublica reporters who has been documenting the aggressive tactics federal agents are using against immigrants & U.S. citizens All eyes are on Minnesota right now, but I want to tell you about Arnoldo Bazan, a 16-YO citizen in Houston who was choked by immigration agents in October

The most dispiriting thing about America is learning how many people will go to ANY lengths to justify police violence, brutal immigration policies, racism, etc. These people don't just think this is okay. They feel duty bound to publicly let everyone know. It is soulless and inhumane.

Need a not-watched-to-death Christmas movie tonight? Want one with fantastic profanity and killer dialogue? THE REF (1994) is sitting out there waiting for you! Don't believe me? Read this great look back @jasondashbailey.com did on the movie a few years ago: www.flavorwire.com/594535/secon...

I'm on board with this. If trailers and articles are designed to sell me on a movie I am already wiling to prepurchase tickets for TODAY, I don't need 'em!

A great essay on one of the best movies of the last 25 years.

Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of the theatrical release of CLUE! If you want to know everything about the making of the movie and its four different endings (you heard me!), then you can get a signed copy of my book at the best movie & TV bookstore on the planet, @mzspress.bsky.social

To me, a good "Best films of the year" list should be a mix of "Damn right," "Good, I've been looking forward to that one," and "Why am I just learning about this one now?!" Also, it should mention TRAIN DREAMS. On that basis, this is a very good list.

Catch movies in the theater while you still can kids, so you can tall your grandkids what it was like! (Do we even believe in antitrust laws anymore?)

Today in Cold Take Corner: CROSSFIRE, a pretty famous and Oscar-nominated film noir that people have liked since 1947... is really damn good! And Robert Ryan is incredible!

I enjoyed WICKED: FOR GOOD but it is undeniably weaker than part 1. This does a good job examining some of the weird choices that were made adapting stage to screen. (Too, did anyone else find the ending reminiscent of THE DARK KNIGHT and assume the truth will come out eventually in WICKED RISES?)

This is how I introduce myself now...

Top 5 film genres 1. I am a silent comedian and have no regard for my own personal safety 2. For this heist... we're gonna need a team 3. Pulp hero who was popular 80 years ago? Let's spend 100 million! 4. Ah this futuristic prison we have invented is 100% escape proof. Oh shit! 5. Westerns

Regret to inform, etc. www.vulture.com/article/sorr...

For me it is possibly William Wyler's epic Western THE BIG COUNTRY. Stunningly beautiful, great performances, incredible score, and a lot to say about violence, pacifism and masculinity through a classic Western tale.

I'm a big fan of this approach along with "Oh wow, what an embarrassing thing to say."

One of my kids requested more Hitchcock films in our diet so we just watched NOTORIOUS and I can't believe I hadn't read this Criterion essay from @angelicabastien.bsky.social until now: www.criterion.com/current/post... Great piece on a great movie!

This is a great piece!

consider this part one of what will be an ongoing series making the case for an imperial congress (gift link)

Holy shit this is a good piece about a very good movie. Go see FRANKENSTEIN on the big screen if it's playing near you!

In possibly unsurprising news, Guillermo del Toro's FRANKENSTEIN is stunningly beautiful and soulful and you should see it on the big screen while you have the chance.

this is the dumbest shit i have ever read

Drew Struzan died yesterday. RIP to an absolute legend. If you're not sure exactly how much of his artwork occupies space in your head, go search some of his work today and be amazed. gizmodo.com/drew-struzan...

I'm glad I ran across @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social 's review of Tron: Ares right after I saw it. He echoes a lot of what I appreciated about the movie: visually and aurally exciting, but also morally and ethically curious. Great sci-fi! See it on a big screen! www.rogerebert.com/reviews/tron...

This one goes out to all the babysitters of kids in the 80s, like Jon and Deedee who introduced me to Highlander, Terminator, and this little gem here (among many others.) The world needs more of these heroes.

Tooele, Hooper, Hurricane, Alta

Catch this movie on big screen if you can (it's in very limited release) but if not, it hits streaming this week and is well worth your time. Good movie and a good interview from @tomilaffly.bsky.social with director Paul Greengrass on some of the decisions that went into the making of it.

Some of the best film-related writing on the Internet AND a great community for people who love to talk about movies. A can't miss investment!

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...