It's a rare Oscars where I'm pretty happy no matter the outcome. Both SINNERS and ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER are exceptional films worthy of the top prize. Can't help but root for all of the horror films in contention. (Yes, SINNERS is undeniably horror, and that doesn't diminish it in any way!)

Oh no, the REBECCA musical stage adaptation is being remounted in Tokyo the very week we're visiting as part of our honeymoon. I am going to have to move heaven and earth to secure tickets.

Yeah, and how’d that strategy work out for everyone?

Advertising algorithms remain preposterously dumb. I left several reviews for our wedding vendors (all glowing!) on the typical sites… …Now I’m getting non-stop ads for wedding photographers. The algo can’t distinguish between “getting married” and “already married” based on my activity.

Has there ever been a film character with so much cultural saturation, despite shockingly minimal screen time, as the Bride of Frankenstein? She appears for something like five minutes in total, and yet the Bride is arguably one of the most prominent icons of horror, if not cinema at large.

Revisited the immortal VERTIGO, and it's hard to overstate how much of its DNA is embedded in SLEEP NO MORE's very foundation -- more than just the unforgettable Herrmann score or McKittrick Hotel name. The acts of following and wandering are explicitly featured, explored, and discussed at length.

I'm getting married this week.

How could anyone with a soul possibly defend this? There is no bottom. Accountability is not optional.

Tonight’s feature: BODY OF EVIDENCE. Streamed on Criterion Channel. Remember when erotic thrillers looked like movies? Lush lighting to die for. Sexual taboos dragged kicking and screaming into the harsh light of a courtroom. Willem Dafoe and Madonna don’t hold back. Recommended.

I really wanted to love METROID PRIME 4. The story offers more than a few intriguing ideas, and it plays great, with mostly excellent combat. But it also suffocates on its emptiness. The world is frequently derivative, if not dull. The game goes through the motions more than it compels the player.

A lot of people around here repeatedly said that pointing out this possibility was needless fear mongering. Now what?

Democrats at all levels need to loudly and repeatedly refute this type of rhetoric, on every platform possible, whenever it comes up. When they don't, the silence creates suspicion amongst low-info voters, and the narrative takes hold. We've seen this happen again & again. What are we doing here?

I'm getting married this month.

Sick of this dystopian tech overlord men with no panache and bad haircuts enabling a pants shitting president and bald hitler wannabe trying to undo things that can’t be undone ass reality we are living. They are so tedious and venal. It’s galling.

So is anyone in the mainstream media ecosystem planning to push back, demand answers, and report on this as the five-alarm fire it is? Anyone in Congress going to aggressively condemn this? Or are we just going to let the Overton window continue to shift…?

Mocktail prices are really out of control. A small glass of glorified juice should not cost $12. These recipes don't have to be needlessly complex or call for an elaborate, time-consuming mix of ingredients.

If you want to see how deep the brain rot goes (and lose a chunk of your faith in humanity), take a look at any comment section on a post where a celebrity condemns what’s going on. I know some of the accounts are bots, but many aren’t. These people have been entirely & utterly propagandized.

A very clarifying, if sobering, thread.

The existential danger will remain until the majority of Democrat politicians come to terms with this reality, even if they sweep the midterms. It's been abundantly obvious for well over a decade now. It's why the "reach across the aisle" schtick rings hollow and hurts vastly more than it helps.

Important to emphasize here that the White House *just* released a doctored photo of an arrest without disclosure. Harder to convincingly alter video, especially from multiple angles, but keep that in mind if/when this alleged footage is released. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Wandered over to Threads, and it's nearly as bad as Twitter. Teeming with rabid M*GA cultists spewing disinformation and blind hatred -- and the algorithm keeps shoveling more and more of it into my feed. Hard to see how anyone who spends substantial time over there doesn't lose their marbles.

Revisited the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS movie last night. It is a crime that we don’t already have two more of these with another on the way.

Once again: This strategy is predictably not working. I’m horrified and infuriated, but I’m not surprised.

Absolute shame that THE BONE TEMPLE is dead on arrival at the box office. It’s staggeringly good. I just don’t think you can do these chapter-driven horror franchise plays with rapid theatrical releases, no matter their empirical quality. Didn’t work for THE STRANGERS, didn’t work here.

And many (most) reachable Americans have no idea because our largest media organs are diseased, compromised, and committed to keeping up an increasingly grotesque facade of normality. It’s beyond parody, and those driving it need to be removed and held accountable, too.

Yeah, I don't pretend to have the answers, but this is not a winning message.

The thing they don’t tell you about the fake weed they use for film shoots is that it smells really, really bad.

Every morning I read the news and I feel sick. It's getting worse and will almost certainly continue to. I know despair and helplessness is what they want, but I can't help but concede that's where I'm at.

Our feature film shoot is going fairly well so far, but folks, I do not recommend scheduling one a month and a half before your wedding.

Tomorrow, we embark on another adventure in moviemaking. The scrappiest kind: little to no budget, a few actors, a camera, & a dream. I can't help but be moved by my collaborators who believe so much in this film & my ability to deliver something exciting & meaningful. Let's make the dream real.

What are we doing here?

A delight/fair warning: Criterion’s excellent new 4K disc release of PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE tucks an abrupt jump scare into the otherwise placid main menu if you linger too long…

Distracting myself from the latest atrocities by disassembling my apartment for the film shoot. It’s unbelievably demoralizing. What can even be said? Everything was telegraphed. None of it is a surprise, including this sustained, suffocating sense of helplessness.

Every time I get nervous about directing my second feature film (we start shooting next week), I force myself to remember I already directed and delivered a feature film. (DON'T PEEK is streaming on Tubi, Screambox, Found TV, and more!)

My first feature film was released this year. In one week, we start shooting my second. Here’s a peek from today’s test footage.

That'll certainly help the deteriorating economy!

We're shooting my second feature film in a few weeks. Right now I'm purchasing props, scouting for a key location, and finalizing casting for some of the ensemble roles. Admittedly stressful but exciting.

Do I know anyone who could whip up a fake/simulated GoFundMe-like page for a movie? I guess this is a graphic design type of thing. Doesn't have to actually be interactive or clickable, it just needs to *look* like a legitimate crowfunding site/campaign for a specific character/scenario. Paid.

So is Fast & Furious 11 never going to happen? One of Universal’s marquee film franchises just ends with an explosive whimper? Those coaster opening events could get awkward!

Of course this looks absolutely wretched and can't maintain any shot for more than three seconds, but will the average consumer care? Most seem to tolerate "good enough." Is the stink of obvious AI slop enough to put people off?

Attempting to book a Tokyo Disneyland vacation package for our honeymoon this evening. Wish me luck.

Some great theater happening in Los Angeles this week: SUFFS at the Pantages has a terrific cast, and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY at the Ahmanson delivers real scares along with a stunning dollhouse of a set. Both productions close this weekend and are offering inexpensive rush tickets!

Tammy and the T-Rex needs a Jurassic World-style reboot. Audiences won't be prepared for it, but that's even more reason to make it.

PREDATOR: BADLANDS is such a satisfying reinvention and pivot. Made up of familiar parts but wields its narrative tools with pleasing precision. Some of the finest creature effects since SKULL ISLAND, maybe. Elle Fanning delights, as usual.

Do I know anyone who I could commission to make a pig mask for a horror film? Looking specifically something that feels somewhat handmade, rough around the edges, almost thrown together with found objects. If this is your area, please reply or DM me!

Between this and “did women ruin the workplace” and a litany of other corrosive nonsense that’s contributed to our dire present moment, I’ve stopped taking the New York Times seriously, and so should you. The institution is compromised.

Epic Universe is a theme park full of cute lil guys

We gotta stop abusing the term “theme park.” The word you’re looking for is “carnival.”

You guys… I have an update. 11 months later, Universal Home Entertainment has acknowledged the error, fixed it for the forthcoming 4K disc re-release, and is sending me an updated copy! Good things can happen!!