Good mail day. Got so much Haneke. Almost all of the Haneke.

This isn’t surprising. Soderbergh seems to hate being on set actually shooting the film and loves editing. This way he’ll be able to quickly create shots and tinker with them and have an extended post production and a greatly shorter actual production.

Good mail day. Got my flash order from Criterion. Forgot to order EYES WIDE SHUT.

LEE CRONIN'S THE MUMMY definitely made me reflect on just who the fuck is Lee Cronin?

Good mail day. Action masterpiece HARD-BOILED and I actually managed to not freak out about the shout factory one coming first and “selling out.”

Good mail day. Vinegar Syndrome goodies. Only seen VINYL of these, but I’ve seen that one plenty.

Holding out for that CD long box renaissance with two sealed Hootenanny’s

Good mail day. Working through all of the Seam discography as they pop up for sale and found a deal on a vintage Elastica shirt that I couldn’t pass up. Movies are QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC and MYSTICS IN BALI from Mondo Macabro.

Good news, I got selected to be able to buy Paul McCartney tickets at the Fonda. Bad news, tickets are VIP and $1661 each. (Not going)

Watched and really liked SCANDAL STREET last night but then I read the IMDb trivia that Howard Hawks was originally supposed to direct and he wanted Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant for the Crawford and Derek roles and I want to see that movie.

Sure seems like an academy award for acting is a great way to get commercial work.

It would be cool if the Academy eliminated the Best Song award.

Göransson 3 Greenwood 0

Is Leo going to take best actor?

Looks like I’m going to New Jersey in May to see The Feelies. One night playing CRAZY RHYTHM and one playing THE FOOD EARTH. I’ve never seen them and they confirmed these are their only shows of 2026. This seems like a very financially responsible decision.

SNL really needs to bring back the “no breaking during a sketch” rule.

Down to one showing a day for NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE at AMC Century City and it’s near capacity every day. Maybe add some more showings back @amctheatres.bsky.social ?

Good mail day. I haven’t seen EXCALIBUR for over 20 years and I’m pretty sure that was on VHS, so this 4K disc will be a considerable upgrade.

Okay everyone’s asleep and I’m organizing my 7” records. I have two copies of Built To Spill - Car, one is a reworking of the jacket of Jim Croce and the other is Bruce Springsteen. I don’t actively search for these but if I find another one, I will buy it too.

Good mail day. Had to order this half-speed master pressing of Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden (even though I already own two other copies of the original vinyl release), I’m sure it will sound great and this will be my play copy. I hope they do an audiophile pressing for Laughing Stock next.

Fave of each year so far: 2020: LOVERS ROCK 2021: MEMORIA 2022: THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN 2023: FERRARI 2024: CHALLENGERS 2025: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Local thrift store has been slowly been rolling comic books out on the floor for last few months. I’m not really a comic book guy but I picked up a bunch today. All of them were $1 and these are probably the highlights:

Good mail day. Some very good live bootlegs making the rounds in Los Angeles record stores right now. I had to grab all four of these: Television, Big Star, The Modern Lovers and The Velvet Underground.

The scenes between Robert Duvall and Anjelica Huston in LONESOME DOVE are so lovely.

Gonna finally watch LONESOME DOVE, I remember Duvall saying that was his best work and I’ve put it off for too long.

Listening to new album URGH by Mandy, Indiana with headphones is an experience I highly recommend.

Going through and cataloging my 7” records and I came across this one, Big Star - “Don’t Lie to Me” / “Watch the Sunrise” with A-side mispressed so it actually contains “Thirteen” instead. My friend Jozo got this for me at Goner in Nashville. Shockingly it’s still not that expensive of a record.

I regret to inform you that I went pretty hard last night at Barnes and Noble for their 50% off Kino and Radiance sale.

Good mail day. Still picking up 2025 albums that I enjoyed, which is very much the case with this jangle pop gem from Good Flying Birds. Also, ANGEL’S EGG in 4K was an essential purchase, one of the greatest and most experimental anime films.

LFG. That Cliff Booth teaser!

RIP Fred Smith, bass player extraordinaire from my personal favorite band Television. Everyone talks about the guitars but I’ve always felt the rhythm section of Television was underrated and brilliant. I met him once after a show and he seemed like a lovely guy. This sucks.

I’ve now lost more than 100 lbs since August 2024. I don’t really share personal stuff like this on here but I’m really happy about this milestone. Weird to finally discover the benefits of diet and exercise in your mid-40s but also couldn’t have done it without Zepbound.

Just 3 weeks left until Takashi Ishii’s ANGEL GUTS COLLECTION 天使のはらわた is out! 5 film / 4 disc set with loads of new bonus features in a limited edition collectible case w/booklet by Midori Suiren Order @terracottadist.bsky.social shop.terracottadistribution.com/products/tak...

Great interview with Jack Fisk on the latest The Big Picture podcast. Could listen to him talk for hours more about all the details and research he brings to his work.

#Top5FirstViews January 2026 1. 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE (DaCosta) 2. SOULEYMANE’S STORY (Lojkine) 3. CHRISTY (Michôd) 4. THE RIP (Carnahan) 5. SKETCH (Worley) All new movies. Cramming 2025 releases for Skandies and catching some better than usual 2026 dumpuary ones.

This is my top 15 albums of 2025. Good year for music, especially impressive how much good “shoegaze” music is being made right now.

Who’s next? One demotion cannot detract from accountability. Greg Bovino and Trump’s agents must still be held responsible for the killings and the damage they’ve done to America.

Good mail day. Severin Black Friday sale stuff finally arrived.

It's time to abolish Trump’s ICE.

Good mail day. New releases and some sale titles from Vinegar Syndrome. Particularly thrilled to finally have THE LAST MISTRESS on Blu.

He needs to start wearing the flesh-colored gloves that Dolly Parton uses.

Career-spanning, thorough interview with Thinking Fellers Union Local 282

Good video with cinematographer Michael Bauman talking about how they shot the “river of hills” sequence in ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

I think it’s INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, which was a rare movie that my family owned in the 80s on Beta and I watched very frequently. I didn’t like it 20 years ago when I saw it in a theater, but I’m probably due to try again.

It’s annoying when something on Netflix requires English subtitles and the only ones offered are SDH.

These are the movies I am most anticipating in 2026 (not including the new Sam Raimi because it’s opening too soon to really work up much anticipation).

Good mail day/week. Two 4Ks that I’m pretty eager to revisit (especially the Woo, which I haven’t seen in decades—pretty sure VHS) and a Teruo Ishii that I haven’t seen and missed that it had been released.

The run of Filmmaker Magazine under Scott & Vadim produced some of the most fascinating and important work on understanding indie film in terms of economics, technology, and the actual stakes of art. I was honored to write for Vadim, easily one of the best editors I've worked with. Hire Vadim!

1926: THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED 1936: DODSWORTH 1946: THE BIG SLEEP 1956: A MAN ESCAPED 1966: PERSONA 1976: TAXI DRIVER 1986: HANNAH AND HER SISTERS 1996: MY SEX LIFE…OR HOW I GOT INTO AN ARGUMENT 2006: THE DEPARTED 2016: NOCTURAMA

Thankful to have been asked to again participate in this poll, my ballot weighed heavily on the side of Japanese exploitation this year because those were the most exciting releases for me. Banner year for Criterion. Great year overall for physical media.