Greetings on this chilly NYC morning.

For those who need an Agatha Christie fix until the next Poirot cinematic adventure…I wish you good luck.

This is a BIG reason I wrote Burn It Down. I was v tired of doing One Bad Man stories & wanted to shout from the rooftops that every He's Just One Bad Man is NOT a one-off--each 1 is propped up by multiple interlocking systems of enabling, protection & even celebration. The SYSTEMS are def evergreen

Support @nyguild.bsky.social in their efforts to reinstate Condé Nast staffers wrongfully fired and stop the company’s union busting tactics. Read more below 👇 actionnetwork.org/petitions/te...

“ALL THAT WE LOVE can feel like a bit of a balm at the end of a tough year & its subdued, no-frills drama may be just the space one needs for a good cry,” writes @mcastimovies.bsky.social:

Happy Peter Hujar’s Day to all celebrating 🎉

just want to remind everyone again that zohran is the one cis candidate i am aware of that had his platform on trans rights written by trans people. i think that matters

We won?!?!?! Congratulations to everyone who canvassed, posted, and got the word out for the Zohran Mamdani campaign. ❤️🗽

Didn’t have the heart to take the last Zohran for Queens sticker at my canvassing shift today, but if you are in NYC, and have not yet voted: GO TO THE POLLS! They’re open until 9pm tonight. Every vote counts 💙

“With NOUVELLE VAGUE, it feels like Richard Linklater is sharing his love of movies and one of the filmmakers that influenced him, who got him to sit straight in his chair,” writes @mcastimovies.bsky.social. The film opens in select theaters tomorrow:

Juntos vamos a construir la ciudad que merecemos! Y con tu ayuda, voy a seguir aprendiendo español 😉

Post something random or you'll have an awful November

So much fun to be on the Original and Adapted Screenplays committee for the Gothams this year with ace fellow critics @timgrierson.bsky.social @ezwrites.bsky.social @carlosfilm.bsky.social @mcastimovies.bsky.social. Proud of our choices and excited for these films.

An honor and a pleasure to be part of the Gotham Awards nominating committee in the Screenplay categories with @timgrierson.bsky.social, @jon-frosch.bsky.social, @mcastimovies.bsky.social, and @ezwrites.bsky.social. Together we came up with an eclectic list of nominees from around the world.

For the first time ever, the Gothams are giving out awards for adapted and original screenplay. Very happy to be on that inaugural committee, alongside @jon-frosch.bsky.social, @mcastimovies.bsky.social, @carlosfilm.bsky.social and @ezwrites.bsky.social. Here are our nominees.

It’s a joy and honor to participate in The Gothams nominating committee and discuss great movies with such esteemed company. Here are our nominees for The Gothams for Original and Adapted Screenplay:

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"

REGRETTING YOU is somehow worse than the last Hoover adaptation, and there’s more coming soon to theaters. 😬

Just this morning @mcastimovies.bsky.social was advising me and @sheilakathleen.bsky.social to catch this film.

I was on @kcrw.com last week with Amy Nicholson to share my love for FRANKENSTEIN, THE MASTERMIND, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT and GOOD FORTUNE, less so for BLACK PHONE 2. www.kcrw.com/stories/week...

"Beauty does not come with creams and lotions and all those silly things ... Beauty comes from the inside out." —Dolores del Río 📸: Edward Steichen

Sorry to hear about the passing of filmmaker and photographer Sara Terry. We spoke about her film on the affordable housing crisis, A DECENT HOME, back when I was in Colorado covering the Denver Film Festival. You can hear/read our conversation here: www.cpr.org/2021/11/04/d...

A similar thing happened to me about 25 years ago, when I was a preteen. It was a nightmare. Now, thanks to AI, so many young girls all over the world will have to live that same nightmare.

Sora is a paper machete. It is low-quality, impossible to make consistent or reliable, while also being incredibly expensive to run. Every single “good” video you’ve seen is cherrypicked from dozens of terrible ones to make you feel scared that this can create entire movies’ worth of content.

If you missed the nasty women deliver the UCLA Copley lecture on silent film costume design in Pordenone, you're in luck!! It's now on YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IEG... *The audio-visual quality isn't stellar, but the slides are beautifully chaotic. @hennefem.bsky.social @laurah.bsky.social

My last NYFF dispatch: on the anxious Argentine drama THE CURRENTS, the cross-cultural meta commentary GAVAGAI, and the wet blanket IS THIS THING ON? aka “men would rather become a stand up comedian than go to therapy” Read on at the link ⬇️

How I write every piece

Been devastated by the Diane Keaton news all day. What a singular talent and an inspiration for weirdos and girls with hat collections everywhere. Will miss her giddy presence and style on screen and off. 💔 Also, if you haven’t watched REDS, go watch REDS.

If you think you know why US newspapers died, this feature documentary now streaming for free on PBS might surprise you. It wasn't the Internet. Newspapers were specifically targeted by vulture capitalists. I composed the score for the film, which features electric cello & Crowfoot guitars.

Gene Hackman, Robert Redford and Diane Keaton all going in the same year. Absolute titans of '70s cinema

As a fan of the original film, I was skeptical of Bill Condon’s adaptation of the musical, but he does such a great job, I cannot help but recommend the new KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. 🕷️ Read my full review below. 🕸️

Jason Blum's take on AI sucks. an AI takeover isn't inevitable, and treating it as such (while also referring to filmmaking as "content creation," smdh) helps AI companies promote the lie that their deeply unprofitable, destructive tech is more powerful and useful than it actually is.

Loved Ira Sachs’ new film PETER HUJAR’S DAY, and I hope you will too. ❤️

Excited to visit the Hamptons International Film Festival this weekend as part of their documentary jury! Say hello if you’re in town as well. hamptonsfilmfest.org/hiff33-compe...

Ken Jacobs (1933-2025) A great artist, a wonderful teacher, & speaking personally, a close friend for over 50 years. Linking to a piece I wrote to mark his 80th birthday. www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/m...

I'm too fucking tired to debunk every stupid thing that Ryan Murphy said about Christine Jorgensen or how the public response to Ed Gein was catastrophic to the the perception of trans people so I'll just point to my book. We covered all of it. bookshop.org/p/books/corp...

Made my way out to BONE LAKE for a bit of horror movie fun. Tis the season. 🎃

The amazing thing about the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on AI development is it doesn't even include all the externalized costs like higher electricity prices for hundreds of millions of people.

My first bad time at the movies with Daniel Day-Lewis, or ANEMONE for thee but not for me. 😬

Happy New York Film Festival to all celebrating!

Kaleb's advice in his last piece of published writing is flawless, and we should all do what he says, in his memory, if not for our own good.

Another TIFF review! Justice for June Squibb but ELEANOR THE GREAT is not it. 😬

My pals at one of my favorite LA repertory theaters, @vidiots.bsky.social, are still thriving! New from the @latimes.com: www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

I keep drawing the sex comedy reviews lately, and fortunately, I landed one that didn’t feel so sex shamey. Here’s to DOIN’ IT, a title my mother would never speak aloud.

One thing at a time. Even if it's powered by spite.

Happy Bad Bunny live concert to all tuning in. 🐰

Girl power girl boss girl go start your own company cashing in on people’s loneliness

Nooooo 😭 I can’t watch them fast enough during festival season

We join our colleagues in @lafilmcritics.bsky.social and @nsfc.bsky.social in condemning the actions taken by Nexstar and Disney-ABC to pull "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" off the air.

I gave my heart and soul to that place. Built entire sections for journalists pushed out of their home countries. When the writer I hired, Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi Arabia, they paraded me around as a symbol for press freedom. I put MY LIFE on the line to defend journalism and WaPo.