I get that TOWERING INFERNO is practically a forgotbuster circa 2025, but I never realized it was in “one-third as well-remembered as DUNSTON CHECKS IN” territory. Then again, I did remember DUNSTON CHECKS IN.

instead of being presented, the Oscars will be unboxed

There's something sadly funny that this is going to kick in specifically for the 101st ceremony. Like, you get 100 years of being the big cheese and then it's off to get swiped-past in favor of AI slop reels.

Queer cinema pioneer Rosa von Praunheim, best known for IT IS NOT THE HOMOSEXUAL WHO IS PERVERSE, BUT THE SOCIETY IN WHICH HE LIVES (1971), has died. He was 83. @spiegel.de — www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/...

Hard agree. For instance, it would've been fun to not have any real inkling that SIRAT was, in fact, a strong sleeper candidate for a surprise best picture nod. Now I'm going to be irritated when it misses out to WICKED, not my usual default, eye-rolling "Oscars gonna Oscar."

Catch me most days holding Underworld’s “Tin There” as the purest distillation of techno’s pleasures and maybe the best choon of the whole damned decade that isn’t “Music Sounds Better With You.”

Mostly, I just miss YMDB and comparing top 20 lists against other obsessive movie nuts.

This clip comes from the 2nd part of "Edith's Crisis of Faith," one of the most truly upsetting episodes of network TV ever produced in the U.S. and a landmark of empathy for LGBTQ+ persons. That this also happens to be a Christmas episode in the wake of this week's news is almost too much to bear.

A Few Good Men. Best in Show. A Mighty Wind. Miss Congeniality. Barcelona. All three movies in Linklater's "Before" trilogy. Music & Lyrics. Michael Clayton. All films that were able to be made because of the production company Reiner co-founded in order to give talented filmmakers creative freedom.

From the top of my head… WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER HELLZAPOPPIN’ WAITING FOR GUFFMAN DEATH BECOMES HER THE LADIES MAN GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 FEMALE TROUBLE the entire FINAL DESTINATION series LOVE ME TONIGHT DISORDER IN THE COURT TO BEEP OR NOT TO BEEP CRIME WAVE (Paizs) BEETLEJUICE THE GANG’S ALL HERE

A throwback to a time when "expects everybody to listen to him when he speaks" was considered a critical character flaw.

See this is why I program "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage" every December.

Oh wait, THIS is gonna be my #1 in 2026. Sorry, John Wilson Hallmark concrete documentary thing.

Oh man, RA's back with some long-range rankings, baby!

Since I'm still in mega-catchup mode for 2025, it's nice that my 2026 #1 is, shall we say, already set in stone?

One slightly deflating downstream effect of how strong this year's international candidates for best picture are against the domestic product (outside of ONE BATTLE and SINNERS) is that it's pretty much turned this category into a fait accompli. Not complaining, it's just a little rote now.

As always, @brofromanother.bsky.social is on point. Lists that have a lot of horror on them but NOT Cronenberg's THE SHROUDS are to be viewed with some level of skepticism.

The Muppet Christmas Carol is fine but it’s got nothing on Muppet Family Christmas

By my count, the Golden Globes best picture lineups feature at least five (5) primarily foreign language films and zero (0) WICKEDs or AVATARs.

Nice work.

I’m a little torn between “anyone who didn’t expect QT to say dumb, mean things hasn’t not paying attention” and “wait, were a lot of people still morally aligned with QT’s whole worldview? that’s actually a little bit of a real problem tbh lol”

this is the one, sorry, close the meme

Starting to see where this is all going and going to just say once more to anyone on any nominating committees: Do. Not. Forget. Delroy. Lindo. Again.

This is such a mess. The HBO Max "remastered" version of The Simpsons reveals that Duff, Duff Lite, and Duff Dry all come from the same pipe. 🙄

As a critic friend of mine once said, "There is an art to making lists." This list ain't art.

This is quite the announcement!

All tolled, pretty close to what I expected!

When they gave it to Kathryn Hunter for Macbeth in 2021 they established a strong precedent for celebrating witches and I’m glad to see it honored

Man these are going fast this year, gotta assume we're getting a lot of landslide victories.

This over Penn is a great call, though I'm still really pulling for Lindo at this point tbh.

BEST FIRST FILM: Eephus

Extremely last-minute @nyfcc.bsky.social predix: Picture: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Director: Jafar Panahi Actor: Wagner Moura Actress: Rose Byrne S. Actor: Delroy Lindo S. Actress: Teyana Taylor Screenplay: SENTIMENTAL VALUE Int'l: THE SECRET AGENT

PLAYTIME (1967) Dir.: Jacques Tati DPs: Jean Badal & Andréas Winding #OnePerfectShot

What makes the passing of actors like Udo Kier extra poignant is that he was a reminder of a career film industries across countries and on multiple levels no longer exist to support. The vagabond weirdo who can show up in Criterion Collection darlings and DTV sequels, and be the best part of both.

SANS SOLEIL (Chris Marker; France; 1983) CRIME WAVE (John Paizs; Canada; 1985) TANGO (Zbigniew Rybczynski; Poland; 1981) WHERE IS THE FRIEND'S HOUSE? (Abbas Kiarostami; Iran; 1987)

Gun to my head to make a prediction 1 year ago, I would’ve had no idea which of those two filmmakers I’d be more surprised to learn received a personal invitation from His Holiness, a Sox fan from Chicago.

Normally I delete skeets that don’t get multiple responses, but not this one. Sometimes the “trying too hard” impulse deserves to enjoy its awkward moment.

Top 5 film genres:

I’m still not sure I’ve fully absorbed the momentousness of discovering that yes, in fact, God is a film critic.

come on pope watch the fury it's what the lord would've wanted

Some inspiring words on cinema in the streaming era from the Pope. Yes, THAT Pope.

Correctly picking SISTER ACT 2: BACK IN THE HABIT over SISTER ACT.

Wow

Cue up Louis Armstrong's "St. James Infirmary."

This lighting cue is so good the score has to acknowledge it