Mia Threapleton in The Phoenician Scheme is a tremendous addition to the Wes Anderson troupe. Intuitively gets the assignment of the dialogue— keeping up with the quick, dense patter but with a knowing twinkle behind the eyes, & the exact correct cocktail of cynicism & sincerity

it’s funny how one’s experience of “the world” in modern American life is mostly just the experiences you have inside a handful of particular buildings (home, work, school, cafe, etc) people who spend time in different buildings than you have an entirely different life

most people’s psych needs are met by 1) daytime working (ideally with both mind and body) on something interesting & appropriately challenging, and 2) evening relaxing/reveling with good company—in nature as much as possible for both. I think “village life” used to provide this as a matter of course

Have gotten comments from gen z questioning the point of the American greeting ritual. I used to feel the same way in my first service jobs. I thought it was "fake," performative, extractive, "emotional labor" (though we didn't have that phrase). Here's how I changed my mind:

in general, gen z culture doesn’t have a norm for greeting/acknowledging people they don’t already know. Their custom is headphones/eyes down until engagement is required. It’s a “don’t speak unless spoken to” culture. This of course feels dehumanizing to anyone older

I remember my first experience of using headphones as a kid, with my mom’s Walkman in the 90s— the music felt “non-diegetic,” like it was coming from nowhere, the score to my life. I fantasized about being in the “opening credits” sequence of my own TV show. It was intoxicating

the good life in the 21st c looks like a lot of offline time punctuated by strategic, powerful uses of the internet the bad life is constantly being plugged into the stream but never really using it for anything but entertainment

it is funny that I somewhat rebelliously got into film as the "lower art form" when I was in school reading the great books, and now I feel like I'm championing film as the "high art form" in a sea of short form slop. But I didn't move, culture did

I think the concept of "introversion" impeded my development as a young person, and I think we need to do away with the introvert/extrovert distinction. It made me feel like socializing and social graces were the province of a certain kind of person that I was not

Le Trou, or The Hole, Jacques Becker, 1960: riveting yet meditative prison break movie. Long, dialogue-free scenes of guys slowly problem-solving their way through an underground puzzle-world, like the best point-and-click video games. Put it on late at night with the lights off

I swear sometimes that waiting tables is the best job in the world. Just being at a nice restaurant. Smiling at babies. Practicing getting a vibe going with different kinds of people. Finding your preferred verbiage for describing food/wine. Working with your body. Improvising

Herman Melville really understood “I am going to become the joker”

this is me at my job loving my cool life

me at my local slices joint, where the guys still have gauges and play metal like it’s the 90s & sling slices in and out of the oven with dancelike grace

Shocked to report that a huge leatherbound hardback actually offers a superior UX. I always thought they were books you only bought for show; I started reading this copy because it’s the one we had around. Stays open on its own. Props up easily. Generous margins. Pleasant heft

The Remains of the Day: beautiful cautionary tale about the way that work (esp service work) can incentivize hollowing yourself out. The perfect butler has no opinions, emotions, desires, needs. Nightmare about believing that being thought good at your job is all there is

the main thing Hook is really good at, which I think is essential for great children's art, is creating "arenas" or "playing spaces" into which child viewers can project themselves imaginatively. Production designer Norman Garwood (also did Brazil!) did incredible work here

rewatched Hook last night because we were sick and I need everyone to check out the camera direction and staging in this sequence. The dolly backwards to reveal the broken glass, then ending the shot with the dolly back in to Maggie Smith… let Spielberg cook!! Let him Hook

a few days ago I was looking for a movie to watch as the flu was coming on. Could feel cognition slipping & needed something engaging enough to distract, but would hold my hand with exposition and voiceover. IDEAL conditions for a first viewing of The Big Short. Absolute programming coup

what I’m liking about Moby Dick so far is that it’s an amazing model for how a smart and observant person can understand the entire universe as refracted through the lens of their day job

started my day by reading classic literature for an hour and now experiencing stable levels of focus, motivation, and interest throughout the day… fascinating stuff

I do think some movies get celebrated merely for being a good idea for a movie

Gene Hackman was a giant. He lit up every second of celluloid he was ever in, bringing a twinkling, crackling, itchy, bristly energy to every role. The man was always ALIVE in the part, charging any film he was in with a sense of mischief and deadly seriousness at once

watched The Wicker Man (1973) and was struck by the way that it’s a post-rationalist nightmare— Lord Summersile is a smart, educated guy who’s thoughtful about the way religion meets people’s deepest needs, who both participates in his cult and stands above and apart from it

a great fb marketplace/craigslist purchase is such a powerful experience. Putting cash directly in the palm of another human being, for a beautiful antique that’s going to last way longer than whatever you would have picked up at Target… incredibly high agency vibe

the thing is that there’s still time for it to be “a good day” (as in, a day with goodness in it) at any point in the day, right up to the end. journaling about the most valuable things in the day, every day, has helped me see this

rewatched Nolan’s The Prestige for the first time in over a decade— due for a major reevaluation. Tight as a drum. A dreamlike atmosphere rigorously committed to its own logic. A magisterial sense of symmetry: everything repeats, echoes, doubles back, means two things at once

have had some success lately with trying to make good habits feel more “casual” to execute, almost haphazard, with no ceremony, commitment, or guaranteed time allotment necessary. You’re allowed to read 1 page of a book at a time, to do 5min of exercise, to wash 2 dishes, etc

something that helps me with blockages, changes in energy levels etc., is just having a varied list of things I’d like to do, and if any one of them feels too hard in a given day or hour, you just do one of the other things. A sort of virtuous procrastination cycle

something that helps with waking up moody/weird/“off” is being able to 1) acknowledge it, 2) understand that it is a temporary state that happens to the human body, and 3) agree that you should probably not give too much credence to any thoughts about the state of your life today

one thing I wasn’t expecting for my mid-30s was for the 1994 Little Women to hit like an absolute freight train, as if I were just now understanding it for the first time. Saw it projected on film on Christmas Day and felt something shift

the cliché idea that I metabolized in 2024 is “inspiration.” I am now trying to orient my life around feeling inspired, which seems to take care of everything else. It’s an expansive feeling, stretching into the past and future; the main idea is “there’s so much more out there”

an amazing expression of what it feels like to get fired up reading good posts

tenderness and awe at the human evolution dioramas in the Museum of Natural History yesterday. A diorama-based museum is a special thing—a walk-through picture book, an inquisitive child’s dream, each 15 steps another flip of the page

The Cloisters in Upper Manhattan— what a special place

fresh out of the anniversary screening on IMAX, some loose thoughts on Interstellar, a Great American Novel of a film, and for my money the greatest space movie ever made:

when I was younger and very neurotic I believed that there were basically two kinds of lives: “happy/boring” and “miserable/interesting.” I didn’t really believe “happy/interesting” was an option, certainly not for myself. turns out it’s an option and it’s important to say so

time you spend cultivating your taste does “pay off” in the form of a streamlined decision-making process about what you want more of in your life. It takes a long time to figure out what you like and why, but once you do, there’s clarity. You just know what you’re looking for

thinking about how you used to have to get humans to play or sing for you to hear music, and now a) we can record musical performances to replay them; b) we have access to much of the music that has ever been recorded, on demand, playable anywhere with cell service and a speaker

not about year-end lists posted at the beginning of December. December is a real month in which momentous things that matter to your year can still happen. MEDIA CRITICS post these lists bc they get early access to everything coming out. Regular people don’t need to do this

Learning a new field or skill as an adult reminds you, on a gut level, that things are actually knowable. If something feels arcane and impenetrable at first, and you take the time to make it make sense to yourself, you can realize that everything is like this

one of my takes is that some of the most futuristic stuff we have, stuff it feels like we shouldn’t even have yet, was invented in the mid-20th century and we take it totally for granted. The microwave, the commercial airliner

ATTENTION to fans of The Holdovers: if you are considering a holiday season rewatch, please also consider Hal Ashby’s 1973 The Last Detail, a noted influence. A shaggy winter hangout movie about an unlikely connection between a bastard & a troubled young man. Textured, funny, sad

saw Ad Astra last night & regret not seeing it on the big screen. A totally sensually immersive space movie— great care went into design, lighting, VFX & sound. Made you feel the length and loneliness of space travel. Must see if you are an Interstellar or Blade Runner 2049 head

being a sommelier is the funniest job. perfect for anyone who likes, say, tabletop games. you’re just memorizing the skills and abilities of hundreds of different characters (the grape varietals, winemakers, regions) & the many different rules configurations (various countries’ wine laws/practices)

you can do a lot if you stop spending any energy berating yourself about (or justifying) why you haven’t done it yet. guilt (and the attendant defensiveness) is an energy leak

have been watching some Joanne Woodward movies lately and my current theory on Woodward’s appeal is that she’s what it looks like when a female dork is secure in her own body, which is inspiring to me personally

I used to think the thought “I don’t think I would like me if I met me.” I think you have to address this on two levels: you have to make yourself into a person you would like, and you also have to make yourself into a person who would like you. if that makes any sense

cultivating enthusiasm for the thing itself is an antidote to the anxiety that you’re not doing it well enough. If you can teach yourself to care about stuff for its own sake you can shed the fear that others are going to watch you trying

@philipchristman.bsky.social I didn’t really want to be here but I saw your twitter account is gone… what the fuck!