The hardest part of working with lifetime learners and the retirement community is that I lose my students and friends on a regular basis. Found out yesterday that one of my favorites had passed away, just a week shy of her 90th birthday. I dreamed about her last night.

“Hey Boo.” #RIP #RobertDuvall (1931 - 2026) here as ‘Boo Radley’ in #ToKillaMockingbird #TheGodfather #TheGreatSantini #ApocalypseNow

💞 my lawyers will be in touch 💞 #muppets #misspiggy

There is literally no better example of textbook fascistic thinking than "Who cares about human rights when the rich are doing so very well"

It’s odd that the religious right is so upset about a halftime show that celebrated marriage, love, community, small business, hard work, and family. 🤔

I loathe football and did not watch the Super Bowl, but we DID get online and watch the entire halftime show, which was fantastic. The stunts! The wedding! The camera work! WOW.

Showed the lifetime learners CASABLANCA (1942) today. It was the first film in our Close Encounters with the Third Reich series.

Every time you hear that such and such major is being eliminated because it isn't popular or it doesn't make money or it doesn't serve the streamlined mission of the institution, you should think about the WaPo cuts. What is a paper without books and sports? A college without history and languages.

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

Amazon just announced another round of 16,000 layoffs, months after it laid off 14,000 workers. Reminder that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy raked in over $40M in 2024. And Amazon is spending at least $75 million producing and promoting the Melania documentary. The system is rigged.

“Please get the truth out about our son.” Read and share the statement from the parents of Alex Pretti, the VA ICU nurse who was shot and killed by border patrol.

We really do live in the stupidest timeline. "Our fragile ego matters more than warning people about a life-threatening storm." JFC.

You don't need me to tell you about the dumpster fire (you already know), but I will say that BOOKISH is on PBS Passport and a lot of fun if you still have access to PBS in your state (AL is about to kill ours so we're enjoying it while we can).

One year of Trump in a nutshell. Still waiting for those "day one" lower prices.

another tease for my semi-mini-comic as syllabus for my Superheroes class. A statement about the heart of the course, and I really love this passage from Saunders "The wish that things were otherwise." Onward!

🎉 The public domain just got bigger! Join us January 21 for a virtual celebration of the films, music, art, & books newly free for everyone to use, remix, & share. 🎟️ Save your spot ➡️ www.eventbrite.com/e/1977502652... #PublicDomainDay #CopyrightFree #CreativeCommons

Genre rules are only guidelines anyway! Want some Dragons in your Western? A locked boat murder mystery in your sci-fantasy? GBBO in outer space? A Necromantic bildungsroman? Searing examinations of war with bonus military Pteranodons? A literal plot device? We've got all that and more! 1/3

It's sad but true that some people are so awful even Muppet Ghosts of Christmas couldn't fix them.

Elsa Lanchester, 1941.

Showed the retirement community group THE THIN MAN (1934) today as our holiday movie. Asta and Myrna Loy (I think in that order) were the general favorites.

RIP #RobReiner. A rare, multitalented creator and actor whose voice, vision and wit helped shaped modern American comedy and more. His legacy lives on in the way he championed artist, audiences and the simple idea that heart and craft and coexist.

Showed my lifetime learners QUEEN CHRISTINA (1933) yesterday and was just amazed yet again at how absolutely gorgeous the film is. We had a lot of crying and enthusiastic applause at the end, and several said this was their favorite one in years.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do we love Dick Van Dyke? For me, he always makes me smile so he's a bonafide 10 :)

Exhausted after a long Saturday in the cold for a local outdoor Christmas market, but @sparkytopia.com had a great day. It was crazy how many people saw the Geordi and Data print and immediately said Sparky should do one of Garak and Bashir! I agree with them, of course.

Had an almost perfect afternoon with @sparkytopia.com - LEGO Store (double points!), book store (holiday sales!), and comic book store (Lower Decks!). I didn't buy any chocolate, cake, or ice cream, so that's why it was ALMOST perfect.

My artist child (24) is a full-time freelance illustrator. I'm especially fond of the classic monster themed art, but I'm the parent who bought that kid My Little Pony in the first place, so that obsession is my fault, too. :)

Met some new librarians today, and I'm once again reminded why librarians are just my favorite people in general.

THE NIGHT of the HUNTER (1955), the only film directed (beautifully) by Charles Laughton. #LillianGish #RobertMitchum #ShelleyWinters

Showed the retirement community group THE LADYKILLERS (1955) today, and it was a big hit. Katie Johnson is the sleeper MVP of that picture in spite of a truly wild performance from Alec Guinness.

The Queen of Spades (1949) Classic British horror film about a money crazy Russian officer who will stop at nothing to learn the secrets of a countess who always wins at cards Starring Anton Walbrook and Edith Evans Cinematography by Otto Heller Directed by Thorold Dickinson - BOTD in 1903

Follow CMBA on Letterboxd! see the latest blogathon entries via this list, we'll update it all week letterboxd.com/clmba/list/e...

New on the blog - my post about THE MUMMY (1932) for the @classicmovieblog.bsky.social Fall Blogathon. #filmsky

Welcome to CMBA's fall blogathon Early Shadows & Pre-Code Horror Movies with horror themes, silent thru pre-Code era. Themes of societal unease, all kinds of monsters, dark instincts, existential dread. Join us here and at clamba.blogspot.com all week clamba.blogspot.com/2025/11/welc...

Virtual Virago talks about the body horror of The Mummy (1932) for the CMBA Early Shadows & Pre-Code Horror blogathon virtualvirago.blogspot.com/2025/11/cmba... @virtualvirago.bsky.social

Happy Halloween!

NEW: Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well beyond the borders of his state. By @dougbockclark.bsky.social

Jane Randolph in the Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur horror classic CAT PEOPLE (1942) She was BOTD in 1914

Bulldozing space for women sounds very on point for this regime.

I'm shaking almost too hard to type. I entered SLC airport and heard screams and cries for help. I could see people gathered around, watching. I sped over to discover this woman face down on the floor, four grown men pushing her down, while she cried "HELP ME" and pled for her child.

They admit in the article that it's political because the regime hates PBS and, you know, educating people. We already lost our local NPR station, and they didn't even ask us to help save it before they pulled the plug.

This administration is using hunger AND propaganda as a weapon. Don’t fall for the lies meant to divide us— the problems we face weren’t created by neighbors who are just struggling to survive.

New on the blog - I've been watching John Carpenter movies this month on the Criterion Channel. THE FOG (1980) is a favorite because of Val Lewton's influence and the range of interesting female characters. #filmsky

Mamdani supporters: This should worry you. Do not underestimate the money and power behind the campaign against him. Go vote.

Even more badass than most realize. #RIP #JuneLockhart

I consider this piece by @sparkytopia.com proof of successful parenting on my part. #phantomoftheparadise

NEW: NBC News confirms that the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, on the east side of the White House, has been destroyed as part of the demolition of the East Wing. (📸 Getty Images)

The optics of Trump building a ballroom that 99.9% of Americans will never set foot in while millions line up for food banks are worth more than any policy paper or economic proposal. This image is a visceral punch in the mouth that needs no words. It should haunt the GOP for a generation.

I'm really enjoying the THURSDAY MURDER CLUB series (now halfway through book 2), and I recommend them if you need to see some justice meted out by a small group of charming and unlikely heroes. The first book is so much better than the Netflix movie (although the casting was great). #booksky

trump is demolishing our national symbols and selling the country for scrap to his corrupt donors