Tom Stoppard, playwright of electric verve, dies at 88 For years I was fortunate to teach a course on Stoppard and Shakespeare. Reading the obits make me want to spend some more time with him. I’ll begin with The Real Thing, maybe the best play about love ever written, sorry Shakespeare.

open.spotify.com/track/6BT7qi... I swear I hear David Bowie on background vocals on this song. I know he was a big fan but the internet is emphatic it is not him. Wondering if anyone else hears it.

Next Pope: My heart says Anders Arborelius (Stockholm) but my money is on Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo).

open.spotify.com/track/7LXN0L... God this is good. @kinggizzardfan.bsky.social @kinggizzardmf.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/s... Let me be the first to welcome our interstellar overlords. I’m on your side and welcome any questions you may have.

Repost with your favorite James Bond (wrong answers only).

Just watched All We Imagine as Light on Criterion. What an amazing movie. I don’t think I’ve been this surprised by a film in a long, long time. #criterion #filmsky

www.google.com/gasearch?q=t... James Cana was a great actor. And Michael Mann a great director. Two things I did not think before rewatching this film. #filmsky

I love the trope of the professor who is hard to find and requires a journey to share Thor wisdom. #nosferatu #filmsky

open.spotify.com/track/3NvwVT... Genius.

@filmsky.bsky.social A new found favorite. Maybe the best Elia Kazan film but nonetheless an amazing and surprising find.

The master negotiator got played, but still thinks he won

A perfect movie I might have missed had it not been for two people suggesting it to me yesterday. #filmsky

open.spotify.com/track/6gDSjj... Check this out. A really great Ukrainian band I just discovered. I’ll be seeing them in March at #BigEars festival.

The view from son’s plane as he flies into Los Angles this morning.

Having just rewatched Rope and Strangers on a Train, I’m fascinated with Farley Granger. Not sure there is s’more sinister actor in Hitchcock’s films. And fascinating life story.

It’s that time if the year to remind everyone that this exists. #KeithRichards #RollingStones

images.app.goo.gl/L267jUyxLRAc... Rewatching all the classic horror films, mostly Universal productions, and I think this is the best. Surprisingly strong female academic who apparently openly lives with her boyfriend. Besides being surprisingly progressive, it has great special effects.

open.spotify.com/track/2JsRGR... The critical hype of this album is deserved. It is truly great, but I could do without the constant reminder of how cool she is. She is cool but enough. #MusicSky

According to Spotify my favorite genre is something I didn’t know existed but with which I’m now obsessed. And I don’t listen to either Fleetwood Mac nor the Stones, not that there is anything wrong with that.

📽️ A question for film lovers and scholars. I am an experienced scholar in Early Modern Studies but I am preparing my first film studies essay for publication and I’m curious about recommended journals. I’m not familiar with a lot of film scholarship outside of books and essay collections.

Must be near the end of the semester because today I dropped three F-bombs in class for no reason than emphasis. And we were discussing Dickens, which made it even less apropos.

images.app.goo.gl/FMqVbEfAgJ48... A great film I stumbled upon on Criterion. Part horror, part documentary, part horror, all crazy, but surprisingly good.