;-(

Empire Builder: not a good thing!

For a movie with so much to chew on, Joachim Trier’s feature moves with efficiency, finding moment after moment of gentle emotional truth.

These characters will surprise you and make you think.

If you found #TheNakedGun to be a healing experience, the British Arrows will give you another dose of what’s good for you: sharing a giggle with strangers.

If nothing else, pro-urbanists can take heart at "The French Italian," which argues that even living above an unstable couple with a karaoke machine is better than taking the New Haven Line home to dead silence.

Max Rebo plays keyboard with his...feet?!

"My Sunshine" has a lo-fi appeal: cozy, yet yearning.

The film’s continual need to serve its twisty plot distracts from the themes it points to.

If nothing else, "Swiped" serves as a look-into-the-camera moment in the face of Mark Zuckerberg declaring that corporate America needs more “masculine energy.”

If Dario Argento had become a CBS journeyman, daytime TV might have looked like this.

What is it about Emma Mackey that makes directors think her eyebrows will take care of any required character development?

Is OH, HI! meant to be a dark character study? A goofy rom-com? A surprise thriller? It just burbles along for an hour and a half, never resolving the disconnect between the affable characters and their ludicrous situation.

We’ve been here before — and by “here,” we mean in a lucid dream in Madrid.

80-plus minutes of one guy talking about theology: more interesting than you'd expect!

How many Billy Joel albums would you include? (This book has three.)

The final season of Andor is a relentless suspense machine, with more tension than fans have experienced since Darth Vader was lowering Han Solo into the carbon freeze chamber.

Whether three women can effectively support each other, in a world that only sees them all as pretty pieces of flesh, is this unforgettable novel’s unanswered question. @jaygabler.com reviews Colwill Brown’s debut:

💅 @jaygabler.com’s mom and niece agree: “Mean Girls” is relevant.

For @thetangential.bsky.social, @jaygabler.com reviewed Neal Shusterman's "All Better Now":

Neal Shusterman, already established as a blockbuster talent in YA speculative fiction, imagines the coming of a second virus — this one instilling the belief that it’s morally wrong to deny others the benefits of infection.

Oh, Canada. 🥲

The hold Johnny Carson had on the nation’s attention in the late-night hours, most weeknights for 30 years, is difficult now to imagine. Tonight’s late-night hosts only pull a fraction of his numbers, even while following a formula he set in stone.

Today’s kids may or may not appreciate the more meta aspects of a show in which kids within the Star Wars universe play with Star Wars action figures…but never mind, Skeleton Crew is fun.

Kids in America today are having a rough time of it. Do we just...not like them all that much?

Is Liquor Lyle's on Bluesky yet?