Really dug the JAWS exhibition at the Academy Museum. Thorough, packed with neat artifacts, and frequently clever in its efforts to engage visitors. Learned quite a few things! The new Marilyn Monroe exhibit, sadly, was a disappointment. Shockingly surface level and mostly a collection of costumes.

We finished the assembly cut for my new movie, PREVIOUS TENANT, after some pickups on Sunday. Deeply proud of our cast and crew. Took me quite a bit longer than I would've liked, but one's wedding, a three-week honeymoon, and a new job tend to introduce delays.

I just don’t think you can in good faith use the word “immersive” to describe any of the new Universal Kids Park’s lands. They are empirically not. I get Universal marketing is going to abuse the word like everyone else, but I’m also seeing “creators” say it without irony, and it’s… revealing.

Truthfully didn’t expect the “Shrek Is Love, Shrek Is Life” corner of the internet to melt down over the updated Shrek 5 character designs. That crowd really seemed to believe they could compel Dreamworks to radically reanimate a film deep in production…

So, uh, what exactly is the plan now that a third of the country is so breathtakingly stupid (and manipulated, yes) that they no longer believe elections are legitimate when Democrats win? Not rhetorical! Threads is a wasteland of bots, grifters, and genuine folks alike declaring fraud in Cali.

Seeing "pay $99 down plus 12 monthly payment" advertisements for Disneyland Magic Keys on socials. Is the demand finally waning // did they finally hit their price ceiling?

Hard to overstate the seismic implications of this weekend's box office. Two low budget horror films (one entirely original) -- stemming from young filmmakers who cut their teeth in YouTube shorts -- trouncing the second weekend of a STAR WARS film. Lot of chickens coming home to roost.

All that said, though? If you can game the system and navigate the queues effectively, Tokyo DisneySea is exceptional. Every environment is immaculate. Every ride is very good to outstanding. It is a miraculous place. If you love this form and have the means, you owe it to yourself to go.

DisneySea, while easily one of the top 3 theme parks in the world, is not without major problems. The biggest is its layout, which is awkward, cumbersome, unintuitive, & plagued with choke points. One must generally pass through the relatively narrow caverns of Mysterious Island to cross the park.

I’m not sure on-ride POV videos are doing many of Tokyo Disney’s latest attractions justice. They can’t capture the enormity of the scenes, the dozens of thoughtful details in any given moment, or the dynamic motion of the ride vehicles.

As some have said, Fantasy Springs is lush and splendorous, but it does feel tangential (at best) to DisneySea. Appreciated efforts are made to incorporate the port theme, but one wonders if it wouldn’t be more at home as another expansion to Fantasyland, which is geographically right behind it.

Whenever we encountered a clearly overwhelmed Western group, we recommended the spectacular Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage, DisneySea’s one major attraction that never generates queues more than 20 minutes. Not a single group had heard of it. It became my mission to spread the good word of Chandu.

Anecdotally, we observed three times the number of Westerners in DisneySea vs Disneyland. I suspect many only visit one and choose the more unique park. We also noticed many didn’t do their research and were taken aback by the queues. Many exhausted families on benches, distraught.

Some observations… the Japanese clearly and justifiably take an immense amount of pride in their parks, but Tokyo DisneySea, especially. Their passion for the 25th Anniversary offerings and even simple decoration was striking.

No one does dark rides like Tokyo Disney, period. In addition to classics like Pirates & Mansion, you’ve got the new Fantasy Springs rides, 20K Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Sinbad, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek… It’s staggering.

The “unlimited priority pass” is as powerful as it sounds. We breezed by a 240-minute wait for Anna & Elsa’s Frozen Journey three times. We prioritized attractions without priority pass on our follow-up days at each park. This worked exceedingly well.

We chained together two back-to-back vacation packages. This was expensive, but for a once-in-a-lifetime trip, invaluable. By my rough count, we did about 90 attractions. We never waited more than 15 minutes for *anything,* and we enjoyed the top headliners multiple times each.

Okay, finished our Tokyo Disney leg of the trip. 2 days at Tokyo Disneyland, 2 days at Tokyo DisneySea. Some more thoughts while I’m on the bullet train…

The Hotel MiraCosta almost exclusively plays the score from The Fifth Element, for some reason

Tokyo Disneyland is running a Vanellope von Schweetz “candy” festival, its latest in a series of expansive park overlays. Very apparent they expected the new Wreck-It Ralph ride to be open by now. That said, the little parade for it is cute, and the song infectious. “Yummy yummy, we love sweets!”

We are staying at the MiraCosta. Harbor view. Dream come true. Every deluxe Disney resort should be this opulent and boast such attentive service

Tokyo Disneyland has some rough edges, clunky transitions, and dated elements… but their Critter Country is unmatched. Shockingly intricate and multilayered. In awe.

Pirates appears to almost always be a walk-on here! We breezed right to loading during the heat of the day

As expected, every attraction’s show set is immaculately maintained. I’m both euphoric at the pristine conditions and actively angry/resentful at how much the stateside parks have deteriorated. Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, & Pirates all look brand new.

Rapid fire Tokyo Disney Resort thoughts incoming — first day at Disneyland First: there are SO many characters, always out, everywhere?? And so many are rare, secondary, or even tertiary characters that would require a hard ticket upcharge in the states?

Embarking on our honeymoon today! A glorious 3-week adventure to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Seoul. We’ll be visiting TeamLabs, Rebecca the Musical, Tokyo Disneyland, Universal Studios Japan, and of course, Sleep No More at The McKithan Hotel. It still doesn’t feel real!

Come on, man. What is this framing

I'm going to the Tokyo Disney resort (and Japan proper) for our honeymoon in a few weeks. I've dreamed of going since I was ten. It still doesn't feel real.

A kind old woman in my building told me that "there's a music to the way your walk sounds." I guess I'll be thinking about that for the rest of the day.

Finally made a hard but necessary life move I’ve been putting off for a long time: creating a Tubi account

PRIMATE rips (off faces) -- a lean, old school, meat-and-potatoes creature feature done right. Director Johannes Roberts is also behind 47 METERS DOWN and its criminally underrated/unhinged UNCAGED sequel. In a just world, he should be given the $$ to make any "nature gone wild" flick he wants.

I think it's a good idea for kids to be taught how to write by hand, even and especially in a digital age

It's been exhausting to see an endless supply of breathless articles and takes declaring AI slop video the future of narrative film. Countless grifting ghouls gleefully telling filmmakers they were out of a job... never mind the mountain of evidence to the contrary. Let Sora rot.

I need people to understand that "it's not this - it's THAT" messaging screams AI slop writing. It's arguably the biggest tell. More importantly, it makes me completely disengage at best and think less of the writer (?) at worst.

Visited Universal Studios Hollywood for the first time in a few months yesterday. Crowds were healthy but manageable. Animatronics were in great shape across the board. It looked like the critters on SECRET LIFE OF PETS received a tune-up recently. The final Indominus Rex was missing, however.

Not immediately sure what it'd be for me, but for my wife, "Sweet Caroline." You can guess her name. You have no idea how many people demanded the DJ play it at our wedding. (It was on the "absolutely do not play" list.)

Secured park tickets and premium express passes for Universal Studios Japan in May! We'll be missing The Flying Dinosaur (a Jurassic Park coaster) and the last standing Beetlejuice Graveyard show due to refurbishments... but we *will* get to experience the Jaws ride again in all its glory.

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.