this is such a great encapsulation of what the various factions of the reactionary right want. i might add that they envision themselves as slave masters and the rest of us, in one way or another, as their slaves. betterdonkey.substack.com/p/the-vra-wa...

Watched Sudden Fear (1952). I'm a fan of Gothic-influenced noir and this is very much in that mode. Joan Crawford is great as the successful playwright attracted to a struggling actor (Jack Palance). The last third of the film, where Crawford's character seeks revenge/escape, is especially good.

Recently finished Patrick McGrath's The Grotesque (1989). Really enjoyed it. The novel walks a fine line between being incredibly bleak and disturbingly funny. Feels influenced by both Joe Orton and Edward Gorey. I definitely plan to read my by McGrath.

Remembering Orson Welles, born on this day, 1915. Pictured here in The Third Man, 1949.

Also from AWP this weekend: a copy of Brillo, by @p-cunning.bsky.social. Paul Thek, Warhol--really looking forward to reading this book too.

Had a good time at AWP in Baltimore this weekend. Really looking forward to reading the books I picked up there from @actionbooks.bsky.social. I'm a big fan of Jaime Saenz's poetry (his The Night is fantastic) so I was especially excited to see Two Poems, trans. by Ted Dodson and Kit Schluter.

Last week I saw Humoresque (1946) at the AFI Silver Theater, a movie I've been wanting to see for a while. A great film about artistic obsession and simmering class tensions. It's bleak but also surprisingly funny (mainly due to Oscar Levant's performance). Highly recommended.

virginia is about to be a one party democratic state again (laudatory)

The United States carried out a large-scale attack on Venezuela overnight and captured President Nicolás Maduro, U.S. President Trump says in a statement.

Fifty years ago, Sweden attempted the most ambitious democratic transition to socialism ever. Its architect, a Jewish economist who witnessed the rise of Nazi Germany firsthand, was motivated by the imperative to never repeat the horrors of fascism.

Healthcare premiums are set to soar in 2026 as key subsidies under the Affordable Care Act expire for millions of people. The United States "has essentially done nothing to control health care costs," says Elisabeth Benjamin of @cssnyorg.bsky.social.

Abel Ferrera is great in Marty Supreme. The guy really should be in more films.

In the 60 Minutes controversy, Weiss is likely doing what she always does: producing a line of propaganda masquerading as news coverage that serves the interest of her patrons–in this case, David Ellison, whose interests are served by protecting Donald Trump. https://bit.ly/45bGW9m

What arrogance. What narcissism. I will be introducing legislation prohibiting the naming of federal buildings after sitting presidents.

“Trans people and our families are facing terror from this administration.”

Jeff Buckley on the reminder you might need.

"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future." - @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit. Incredible words. Listen to all of it!

Watched The Occupant of the Room and really enjoyed it. I'm a big fan of Christmas season ghost stories, and this one does a great job invoking an eerie, late-night, wintery atmosphere. Written and directed by @kierlajanisse.bsky.social and based on an Algernon Blackwood story.

In Gaza, "surveillance is constant," says Palestinian writer Mohammed Mhawish. This omnipresent sense of being watched and tracked — through checkpoints, social media, drones, AI and more — creates an "enormous psychological burden" on the civilian population.

Recently watched The Honeymoon Killers (1970). It's a tense, claustrophobic character study of two truly twisted individuals, based (very loosely) on the "lonely hearts killers" case. It's riveting and deeply unsettling. Scorsese was the original director before he was fired from the project.

Ireland, Slovenia, Spain and the Netherlands to Boycott Eurovision over Israel’s Participation

This is spot-on. The UVA "deal" might be the worst/most dangerous (so far). With the help of UVA's leadership, Trump coerced a leading U.S. university to foreswear all efforts (including 100% lawful measures) to achieve diversity. A betrayal of our values. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Udo Kier's first and only post on Twitter 💯

RIP Udo Kier. The intro. to Blood for Dracula (1974) is one of my all-time favorite film openings. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErHh...

I read "One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This" last summer--an incredibly powerful book.

HBD, the incomparable Martin Scorsese, whose movies and commitment to art changed my life.

Trump's economy is being held up by a massive AI bubble. A recent study found that of 300 companies that owned generative AI tools, 95% reported zero return on their investments. We will not entertain a bailout of these companies should this bubble pop.

This is officially one of the strangest pictures in American history, and I do not doubt that it will be considered iconic a hundred years from now. 100% serious here.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.

Add child kidnaspping to the ICE Nuremburg file.

Mamdani: "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."

this is genuinely wild

Guillermo del Toro on wealth: "a wealthy man is a man who has enough, not a man that needs more. If you have enough to invite someone for a beer? You're rich. If you have a yacht, planes, islands, and you still need more? You're not rich."

doorway to hell actor haunted house, casino pier, seaside heights, new jersey, 1978

The main achievement of the tech industry has been increasing the flow of money from people who make or do things to people who already have more money than they could spend in a hundred lifetimes

Christopher Lee with his cat, Renfield.

BLACKOUT NOIR • Coming to criterion channel in November!

Now on sale! Aase Berg ’s Aase’s Death! 25% off with code DEATH at checkout! www.blackocean.org/catalog1/aas...

Thanks to the good people at Heavy Feather Review (@hfr.bsky.social ) who've published poems from a collection I've been working on about cult films. heavyfeatherreview.org/2025/10/15/j...

Just announced at NYCC: I’m writing a KNOW YOUR RIGHTS comic with artist @davidhahn.bsky.social in partnership with @nycschools.bsky.social #civicsforall comics program, covering and explaining student rights when it comes to immigration enforcement.

hi I've been tuned out coz chicago is a lot rn, but must show you this: I'm in the new issue of the resurrected Udolpho gothic journal, ed. by James Pate! Wonderful folks in this issue (Jace Brittan, Paul Cunningham etc) order for spooky gothic halloween vibes! ellersliebookswv.com/product/udol...

Attn all ICE agents! Here’s an announcement from our front window: Chicago hates you, and you are not welcome here!

'William Burroughs, Terry Southern, Allen Ginsberg, and Jean Genet at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 1968' Michael Cooper photo hatandbeard.com/collections/...

Gains in productivity should serve the working class. We need a reduction in the workweek to 32 hours, at full-time pay.

***NOW AVAILABLE TO PREORDER*** Grateful to Katrine for having invited me to be part of #AncientAlgorithms w/ so many #translators and friends whom I greatly admire: CAConrad, Sawako Nakayasu, Aditi Machado, Baba Badji, and Ursula Andkjær Olsen herself! www.sarabandebooks.org/all-titles/p...

i find this image so fascinating. it is both a literal example of authoritarianism but also a second-hand reproduction of the aesthetics of other authoritarian states. it's like a simulacra of authoritarianism whose purpose is to attempt to make the simulacra real.

Israel’s extreme rationing of water to the Palestinian people is central to its larger project of control, domination, and ethnic cleansing.

Thanks to @noisemakerjoe.bsky.social for having me on his podcast! We discussed the Gothic and noir, writing in different genres, Francis Bacon, David Lynch, the use of personas in art...a whole lot of topics.