In case you didn't know: the land which is now Arlington Cemetery belonged to Robert E. Lee and it was requisitioned for the Union cemetery to punish him personally for his role in the Confederacy, so this act is an insult to the American army that's as deep as could be done

Watched Inglourious Basterds for the first time in 13 years last night and my patience for a lot of Tarantino's schtick has worn thin but idk the idea that all you need to defeat N*zis is a can-do attitude goes pretty hard

This is a failure of journalism, on a really basic level, but it is also a failure of political leadership. It was going to fall simply in the basis of what the previous govt did. But Starmer somehow conspired to actively spread the impression it was rising.

Cher Sings All The Roles In West Side Story but it's the Marriage of Figaro act 2 finale

🥚🐤🐔

Hen offers a very literal bird's-eye-view on an unnatural world – ★★★★ for György Pálfi's new film, out this weekend via @conic.film www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-rel... [review by @carmenchloie.bsky.social]

This is an appalling case and Germany deserves far greater international opprobrium over it and similar actions. It also shows why citizenship-on-probation, and other measures that create hierarchies of rights within the same society, must be resisted without compromise.

Loved this doc and chat!

Artwork by Tony Stella

Over the finish line under four hours! Had a wonderful run yesterday in Belfast, one of my favourite cities, and more importantly I am *so close* to my fundraising goal for Refuweegee www.justgiving.com/page/carmen-...

"Don't worry about a THE ZONE OF INTEREST situation: Reform UK will make sure the concentration camps are an ignorable distance from you."

Had a dream last night that someone called my writing 'overwritten' and dream Carmen just shrugged and moved on

Does anyone based in (or with knowledge of the TTRPG scene in) Edinburgh know of any RPG groups, youth groups etc that might be interested in donations of TTRPG books? I have masses of things I'm unlikely to ever play and a desperate need to reclaim space

It's T minus 5 days until my next marathon, and I'm running to raise money for Refuweegee! Every donation supports people setting up new lives in Glasgow www.justgiving.com/page/carmen-...

bookmarking for after I actually finish Infinite Jest (a 2026 resolution)

People keep discovering this piece just like they keep discovering this movie. How amazing it was to be a moviegoer in 1999.

Everyone who thinks opera is old fashioned or regressive has never seen a trouser role performed to perfection

Off the back of exciting Season 2 announcements, I reviewed The Lowdown's excellent first season for Movies We Texted About movieswetextedabout.com/the-lowdowns...

Maya Angelou on the joys of being edited

A night at the ballet ✨✨

Not once in the 80s, 90s or 00s do I recall a politician urging the public to embrace email, mobile phones, texting, two factor authentication, online banking, air fryers, or to replace all their cassette collection with a CD collection. So forgive me if I smell a rat.

Not a single evening or weekend screening of Kiss of the Spider Woman currently scheduled in Glasgow

having a wonderful time looking through the new RBO season and planning how my money will be spend (for better and worse) for the next 15 months

Ooooooooooof meter up to 1000

"We will back political causes for clout when they are easy and cost us nothing."

New Petzold is here and I am predictably normal about it

That's the Olivier Award-winning Into the Woods and Oh, Mary! to you!

good morning

One day to go and then I can spend the afternoon double billing two of the greatest scripted theatrical works of our time (Into the Woods and Oh, Mary!)

I wasn't there in 2001 but seeing Moulin Rouge! on the big screen with the *best* sound system in Scotland will be up there as my cinematic highlights of 2026.

Happy Confederate Surrender Day to all who celebrate. All you fascists bound to lose.

americans urgently need to get better at imagining ourselves as perpetrators not victims

oof (from The Magician, Colm Tóibín's fictionalised biography of Thomas Mann)

David Simon said it best

It's now under five weeks until the Belfast City Marathon and every donation to Refuweegie makes my training runs easier (honest!) www.justgiving.com/page/carmen-...

My piece on navigating the Orientalism of Turandot, for @nytimes.com

Two hours to go!!! All donations doubled!

They asked an AI to determine which books were inappropriate and among many other dumb outputs it flagged Reni Eddo-Lodge and Michelle Obama because their books deal with racism.

Truly overcome to be included in @thesondheimhub.bsky.social's round-up piece celebrating what would have been Sondheim's 96th birthday - look at all the things he's done for me (and us all)! www.thesondheimhub.com/p/96-gifts-f...

Capitalism did this ⬇️

First walk home of 2026 where the sky was (just about) light the whole way!

MJ's @carmenchloie.bsky.social says, "Heartfelt, humorous, and a great watch throughout its relatively brief run time, CORNBREAD MAFIA celebrates all-American ingenuity ." #CornbreadMafia premiered at @sxsw.com

I'm on the board for this wonderful organisation - if you're looking to support community cinemas across the UK, your donations are matched until the target is met during the Big Give! donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Want to keep cinema accessible for communities? Supoprt Cinema for All during this year's Big Give! donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

I'm waiting for three months of freelance invoices + ramping up for the busiest time of year at the day job so of course I've ordered a book of life-sized frog illustrations to cheer up

In the strange and thought-provoking THE GOOD BOY, Anson Boon plays a 19-year-old hoodlum who receives some unconventional rehabilitation from Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-rel... [review by @carmenchloie.bsky.social]

This is Amy Madigan and Ed Harris refusing to applaud Elia Kazan's honorary Oscar in 1999. During the Blacklist Era, Kazan named names. Good on Amy and Ed.

the central point of One Battle After Another—which Paul Thomas Anderson reiterated while accepting his first Oscar—is that middle-aged white men should not be the voice of this political moment

OBAA feels less and less like fiction

love to see Ivo v*n H*ve back on his bullshit