UNDERTONE was a dumb eyeroller, a cheap flick that will make a lot more money than it cost. Dumb podcast too. And watch: everybody’s going to say “omg I’ve never been so scared!” Flashing lights, crying babies, aaaah! Gimme a break. 🙄 (By the way, maybe they shoulda called this thing OVERBITE.)

@kanopy.com Sure wish there were a way to BUY more “tickets” on top of whatever the meagre ticket ration the local library allows per month. Like, a button to buy 10 more tickets for $5 or whatever… I would be all over that.

Passed by the entrance to Epstein’s NM ranch today. Guy in black, standing in front of black car behind the gate, video-recording passers-by.

Eyes on the road, pal, eyes on the road

It is WINTER. What the heck. How can this be next week’s forecast for Santa Fe? If you drive a gas car, time to stop.

The whole article is great: www.theregister.com/2026/02/16/s...

There’s nothing like a 2hr megadose of autotuned AI-slop airhead Idiocracy corporate pop probably-all-won-Grammys muzak coming from the ceiling of the waiting area at a car service center to require a full 24hr audio cleanse with Never Mind The Bollocks, Here‘s The Sex Pistols and Who’s Next 😱

Um

@energydems.senate.gov @heinrich.senate.gov So how much more money does the State of New Mexico now stand to gain from $100+ oil? This war on Iran is mighty good for New Mexico and Texas’ bottom lines, yes?

This scrawny, timid dog showed up in our backyard yesterday (it’s been years since we saw a dog in our yard), drinking from our bird bath. I went out to try to read the name tags on the collar but she ran away in fear. I drove around the neighborhood but no luck finding the dog or an owner. 🤷‍♂️

Media/politics focus on "gas prices" is a ruse. It is classic oil-and-gas industry trickery. Don't fall for it. Where are the headlines blaring, why are Americans still driving gas cars? Have you even *looked* at new/used EVs? There are tons of models out now. www.researchgate.net/publication/...

As they say in the medical TV dramas, pretty sure it’s time to “call it” with AMC Theatres, the company that pioneered the enshittification of the moviegoing experience.

Ground Zero of Fraud. A tacky gilded barn stall full of snorting, wallowing frauds frauding away for an endlessly fraudable audience—the Idiocracy formerly known as America, land of the flea and home of the knave.

Someone is profiting big-time in oil and gas. Batallion Oil up 917% in past six months, and up another 135% this morning pre-market.

Powerful, inspiring, absolutely infuriatng documentary about a free-spirited Iranian woman running for election and winning in her village—and all the lazy-ass no-good violent patriarch dudes who will stop at nothing to prevent her from getting things done. Could be America in a generation or less.

It occurs to me that the return of @darthbluesky.bsky.social is nigh Are you ready?

Reza Pahlavi, son of the Shah, was a 14-yo kid in the late 1970s, when Control Data Corp was vigorously marketing the PLATO edtech system to oil nations like Iran and Venezuela. He loved PLATO and apparently played the games. Tried to interview him for my book but his people wouldn’t cooperate.

Wow. I went into this knowing essentially nothing. But it was good. The kind of film you wish 100 million Americsns would see and then ponder and discuss in their communities. Think it can’t happen here? Think again. In the meantime, see: MR NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN. 👍

This would make a great movie. Or not. It’s certainly thrilling reading as a Wikipedia thingie.

Most satisfactory sunset tonight in Santa Fe, New Mexico

So, whadya think, destined for a RAM 3500 HD or Ford F350 HD? RAM’s the safer bet. 🤷‍♂️

Tonight, right after sunset in Santa Fe, having just driven up from Albuquerque behind that big mountain on the horizon

Strange bowl-shaped cloud seen over the mountains today in Santa Fe. Cerealnumbus? 🤷‍♂️

When you lower your standards for what qualifies vs doesn’t qualify as true IMAX, sure, you get improved financials. But long term, have you chosen . . . wisely?

73°F in Santa Fe, New Mexico this afternoon. 7000+ ft altitute. In February. It’s winter. It ain’t normal.

The collection of this year’s Oscar-nominated short films are 80% sad, gloomy, and bleak. The one that isn’t, PERFECTLY A STRANGENESS, is joyous, fun, and literally cosmic—and stars three beautiful donkeys. My favorite documentary of the five nominees, (maybe as there are no humans onscreen?).

The real crime of CRIME 101 is that someone—the director? the producer? the studio? Barry himself?—thought it a good idea that every few minutes Barry Keoghan lift the dark shield from the front of his motorcycle helmet bc obvs the blockhead audience might otherwise think this was THE MANDALORIAN 🤷‍♂️

This new Tony Gilroy interview really is that good and worth a read. It's the best interview I've read in a while. It's the real deal. Read it. Ponder it.

Good grief, Have clue, Don’t go. Ugh. This was not a fun movie. Long stretches were real tedious. A bad trip, unfunny, too long. Bleh. (Now watch: everyone on Bluesky will declare it their favorite film of 2026. 🤷‍♂️)

Windy, with brilliantly blue skies and blazing sunshine all over Santa Fe right now—but not according to the National Weather Service whose radar shows rain and snow—wtf?! Wondering if NWS has been DOGE’d and switched to a hallucinating Grok system instead of relying on, like, radar data? 🤷‍♂️

Very sorry to hear this. RIP Michael Silverblatt. Listened to many many great author interviews for his Bookworm show over the years on KCRW. www.kcrw.com/shows/bookwo...

Hey CRIME 101 was wasn’t anywhere near as bad as some of the sneering, seething “just a ripoff of HEAT” critics who almost discouraged me from seeing it. Sure there was a small insignificant semblance to HEAT but you know what it reminded me of a LOT more? A Don Winslow novella. Imagine that!

Can't believe I only discovered Kanopy last week. Now I have the app installed on my AppleTV 4K and it's like, "for the next few months, goodbye Netflix!" So many good films on Kanopy it's bonkers. All free. All I had to produce was my library card ID number. First watch: 7hr epic SATANTANGO.

Saw this. NATCHEZ was eye-opening, infuriating. Powerful documentary. See it if you can. And this is a good review. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

I’m soooooo tired of soooooo many movies spending soooooooooo much time showing sooooooo many people smoking sooooooo many effing cigarettes and drinking sooooooo much effing alcohol. Just once I’d love to see the glass of booze catch explosive fire just as the character starts swallowing it.

Things I learned today: @kenwhite.bsky.social has been watching Season 4 of THE LINCOLN LAWYER on Netflix. Just one question, dear Popehat: How would you characterize the prosecutor character Dana Berg? Accurate, absurd, caricature, “I’ve seen worse,”…?

Today’s quest: Find a crisp, clear, isolated* recording of the coo-ing of a single Zebra Dove in Hawaii *the catch is the “crisp, clear, isolated” part—you might achieve one, you might if lucky achieve two, but 😂 lol hahaha yeahright good luck achieving all three 🤷‍♂️

One of those perfect cinematic Santa Fe sunrises this morning, where all that’s missing are the title credits

Ok, I survived all those potatoes and all the booze and all the whirling winds in THE TURIN HORSE … … surely I can manage this 7h 17min epic film by the same esteemed director! Why, 7 hours? It’s practically a *short*, haha, a mere trifle! Right? Um…. 😱🥺😰😱👀

Went to a gallery reception for the painter CJ Rosenthal here in Santa Fe tonight. His oil paintings are striking and provocative—that’s for sure! Here is one of them: “Dr. Zira Shares A Laugh With Ivermectin Patients” 👀

Well, given the slop that Microsoft has produced for 50 years, you gotta admit, they'll prolly be able to push more slop out than ever before www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ai...

Google Maps Street View. Only in New York.

Seen in Santa Fe today. Can relate.

How about this, grasshopper: THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN (1966) BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN (1967) 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)

Next time you hop in your car, turn the ignition on, and start combusting gasoline and expelling carbon diocide and other toxic fumes into the atmosphere, please ask yourself: why aren’t you driving an electric vehicle? And why are you supporting the oil and gas industry? bsky.app/profile/apne...

@jon-frosch.bsky.social Man, what in the world is the Hollywood Reporter doing running gun ads? Here I am quietly reading a film review and suddenly up comes not one but two frickin’ gun ads. How is this remotely appropriate?

RIP Dave Farber, 91, computer scientist, who for many years ran a popular mailing list about technology, networks, and society.

Hey movie industry, like, when is enough enough?