"You gonna murder someone else? You can't kill us all, Nazis."

The Testament of Ann Lee is perfect for folks who adore bravura musicals (The Lure, Better Man, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and First Cow’s bittersweet depiction of traits (empathy, subverting gender roles, choosing kindness over cycles of violence) cannot survive American/European power structures.

I got so busy last week that I didn't realize my second piece for @queerty.com went up! Thank you to this wonderful site for once more hosting my writing, which this time focused on the wonderful Ben Whishaw and his immense versatility as a performer! www.queerty.com/hes-so-vers-...

kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life

On @looperhq.bsky.social , I broke down the ten best motion capture animated characters of all-time! Come and see my choices, tell me which ones I got wrong! www.looper.com/2055959/best...

Trans communities warned for years about the NYT's transphobia, but the specifics of how this was ordered were often shrouded behind corporate hierarchy. No more. Sweeney lays out specifically how the highest ranks of the NYT rigged coverage in favor of anti-trans bigots.

My first @looperhq.bsky.social piece for 2025 explores box office records that won't be shattered again anytime soon! www.looper.com/2062432/box-...

It's a New Year, so I'm here to announce once more that I'm open and ready to provide work for your outlet! I have years of professional writing experience in fields ranging from film to television to pop culture trends to trans/disability experiences to Dallas, Texas culture, and so much more!

Last night, I had a...let's say rough New Year's Eve. I wrote up about this experience, experiencing dysphoria and isolation in even "queer friendly spaces," and my own mental health struggles in this editorial which I guess is my first 2026 essay. landofthenerds.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...

FWIW, I've never had a year typify "You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fail to the level of your systems" more than 2025. Emotionally and energy wise --fires and fascism factored in -- I've never been more punched out. But I worked and lined up more work based on old habits saving me.

For my very last writing piece for 2025, I provided some New Year's resolutions movie studios (and one for movie theaters!) need to undertake to help preserve the theatrical experience. landofthenerds.blogspot.com/2025/12/five...

December 2025 is crammed full of animated movies, but once upon a time, Hollywood didn't dare unleash new animated titles in this month. What was behind this reluctance? I explored this phenomenon in a new editorial below! landofthenerds.blogspot.com/2025/12/why-...

Something weird I was realizing last week about Avengers: Doomsday and Dune 3 opening on the same day...I think Dune 3 has IMAX screens that day? Denis Villeneuve shot significant portions of the feature with IMAX cameras, and Doomsday technically has never been officially confirmed for IMAX release

Movie studios are constantly lying to the public on what's "popular" and "lucrative." It's an insane form of gaslighting often done to prioritize what's easiest for studio execs (And wqorse for unions, artists, etc.) Case in point: the decline of the big screen comedy movie.

Over on Looper, I looked at the worst Best Visual Effects Oscar winners of all time! www.looper.com/2046616/wors...

It's insane that Apple doesn't have its own self-distributing movie studio. Newbie US distributors Row K, Black Bear, Briarcliff, and Bleecker Street somehow find funds for putting movies into 2,000+ theaters. Yet Apple can't use its $4+ trillion valuation to give its movies 45-day theatrical runs?

Reagan's project was successful: now, many Americans have no idea what a "public good" is. Their only framework for social interaction--outside friends & family--is set by the concepts of private property & consumer choice. That explains a lot about voting patterns & the dying sense of civic duty.

look at how little effort it takes for someone on the conservative grievance circuit to destroy a life millions of college kids have half assed an assignment at the last minute, you eat the F and move on but the effort to push trans people out of public life will use whatever it can get

Roy Scheider was so against playing Martin Brody in Jaws 3D, he signed on to Blue Thunder as an excuse to turn it down.I like to imagine Scarlett Johansson’s got a similar deal with her packed 2025 and 2026 schedules, so she doesn’t have time to play Black Widow in Doomsday or Secret Wars.

How the actual FUCK was Avgenia Alexandrova's cinematography for The Secret Agent not shortlisted for Best Cinematography at the Oscars???????? Madness, no other word for it.

We don’t need our estranged children anymore. We can be our own children! It’s time for estranged parents to adopt each other

Come check out on Looper my picks for the 12 best movie trailers of 2025! www.looper.com/2046366/best...

The central Wagner Moura performance, the vividly colorful visual scheme, its exquisite execution of a non-linear narrative, the Udo Kier cameo, everything about The Secret Agent is cinema at its finest. This is a meaty feast of a movie demanding the big screen, see it theatrically posthaste!!

Holy cow, I'm 30 years old today, woooo! I wrote a little thing about getting older and contemplating the past and present! landofthenerds.blogspot.com/2025/12/well...

Notice how Trump and Republicans were having the worst couple weeks in the administration's history and they decided to pivot to hardcore attacking trans people?

We’re not running out of good ideas, but the tech fetishists who have no ideas other than “but I put a lot of money and emotion into this basket” always do, and their narcissism does not allow them to consider that their failed ideas suck, and the flop sweat is palpable.

Okay, let's try this one more time, my Avatar: Fire and Ash review is now up on Land of the Nerds! landofthenerds.blogspot.com/2025/12/tedi...

Avatar: Fire and Ash is a tedious slog rehashing previous movies to middling results. Check out my full review on The Spool below! thespool.net/reviews/avat...

She Ella on my McCay until I Spanglish.

I don't want to be a "I'm not surprised" guy but covid made it clear that a substantial part of the population wants the freedom to do whatever they want even if it kills them and/or others

It’s so wild that “a random online leftist said something I found annoying once” is legitimately a huge driver of modern politics in a way that “online right-wingers with significant sway over powerful people say literal Nazi things” isn’t and likely never will be

Right now, Ella McCay is aiming for a $2.3-ish million domestic launch. If it hits that number, that would be the 6th worst domestic opening ever for a non-re-release movie debuting in 2,500+ theaters. Titles like Copshop, The Rocker, Arctic Dogs, and Victor Frankenstein all opened better.

It's finally here!! My Top 25 movies of 2025 list is finally up!! I'd be so honored if you gave this a read and, hey, maybe even share it if you like what you see! Come celebrate 2025's cinema scene with me! landofthenerds.blogspot.com/2025/12/lisa...

Thank you to @scottmendelson.bsky.social for letting me review and break down the grand opening of the Netflix House experience in Dallas! What does a Netflix-themed entertainment complex even look like? Read my piece to find out! scottmendelson.substack.com/p/e0158533-a...

smart way to think about it but also, i appreciate how much ryan coogler works with, elevates and, here, credits women in his work. your average hollywood filmmaker would absolutely relate this as “here’s how i see it…” instead of “here’s how a woman i work with has shaped my thinking.”

Disney apparently has $1 billion to invest in AI bullshit, but doesn't have money to give livable wages to its theme park employees. www.bbc.com/news/article...

"We live in hell, and the rapacious need for growth in every industry, unrelenting, forever and ever, is decimating all of our institutions and our way of life." Amanda Dobbins, on fire

Importantly, this wouldn't have passed without Dem support. There was enough of a split within Republican ranks that if Dems had voted against the bill it would've been doa. Giving Trump a blank check to warmonger *and* passing an anti-trans measure was a choice.

Lessons in Magic and Disaster is one of the best books of 2025 according to Library Journal! www.libraryjournal.com/story/Editor...

Over on @looperhq.bsky.social , I broke down the absolute worst movie moments of 2025! Behold my breakdown of unforgettable (for all the wrong reasons) scenes like Gal Gadot rapping! www.looper.com/2043521/wors...

Warner Bros., please, put Spike Lee's American Utopia in theaters, even if it's just for two days through Fathom, I must experience one of 2020's greatest cinematic triumphs with a crowd, so we can all tap our toes to those beautiful versions of "This Must Be The Place" and "Road to Nowhere."

it might seem surprising that the people who said “look, let trans people live their lives, but i have Reasonable Concerns about sports and toilets” aren’t up in arms about this, but what you have to remember is that those people who said that are liars who were lying

One of my great privileges of 2025 was writing this essay for the outstanding publication ScarleTeen. So honored they'd highlight it!