I hate that I'm still capitalism's bitch, but I got a job offer this week after 5 bleak months of unemployment, and everything - from sorting my clothes to checking social media (hi!) - suddenly seems infinitely easier. I'm hoping to be here more often now that structured days are on the horizon!

Boosting this because Carmen's great and Refuweegie is also great! It's a small but mighty org that shows up for immigrants in the Glasgow area every single day. They truly do invaluable work and deserve as much support as possible.

This slaps!

Three decades in the making. 🔥🔥🔥

The most surprising part of this season of Mormon Wives is that not ONE of these people understands what a big deal it is for Whitney to get the lead in Chicago.

ICYMI:

what a shot

What made it such a great show is that it was entertaining and layered and explicitly political with excellent music, delightful surprise guests, stunning sets, a clear narrative, a shout out to ALL of the Americas and a cameo from Belcalis.

Pedro was really feelin' himself. I need to know how he ended up there!

It really was visually stunning, technically masterful, loads of fun, and earnestly meaningful. All-around great -- and upping the bar for future halftime show direction.

We all saw the fellas grindin right? That may be a first for the super bowl.

This thread is lifting my spirits.

"All these journalists with meticulously sourced articles and fact checking standards? A mere smear campaign. This random substacker named Balls McGee has conclusively pieced together the truth that exonerates me."

I read a bunch of that bullshit Substack yesterday so y'all don't have to, and the rando has a section of an "article" about how one of the accusers couldn't have been housing insecure because her cousin rides horses. I wish I was kidding.

furthermore, fuck Neil Gaiman

Famous people who've left bodies under their pedestals can have whatever self image they want. Knock yourselves out, champs. We don't have to validate those distorted and deeply disturbing self-conceptions, not even a little bit.

my thoughts on chappell's grammys outfits are that I respect how often she looks like she's going to star in a cinemax version of xena: warrior princess. this is genuinely high praise

Well!

ICYMI: here's a thread of just a handful of the Soon-Yi and Woody Allen Epstein receipts, which I think are weirder and worse than most coverage is giving them credit for!

This thread is worth a read up and down but this part is obviously particularly sickening

Boy that Woody Allen line about not wanting to belong to any club that’d have someone like him for a member hits a lil different now

I'll be interested to see how some of y'all try to spin Woody Allen palling around with Jeffrey Epstein and emailing him in coded phrases with a bunch of winky faces into something innocent! I'm sure you'll find a way!

If you want to feel hope this morning, scroll through this list of small businesses that are shutting Minnesota down today. bringmethenews.com/minnesota-li...

I came to Minneapolis to report on what's going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is "just what is the scale of the resistance?" After all, we're all used to the news calling Portland a "war zone" or whatever when it's just some protests in one part of town.

Do any other former FSR writers have an archived copy or screenshot of Neil's post about selling the site? I'm debating writing a bare bones (if that's even possible) "What Happened To FSR?" explainer just so there's *something* on the internet we can point to when people ask about it.

it is darkly funny to me that American troops are as unprepared to handle the harsh climate of a Minnesota winter as they were in Vietnam or Iraq

Today I'm emailing HBO Max to try to consolidate my two screener accounts (since the FSR one always had more), and I'm ready to cry about this again. Also, can someone please update the FSR Wikipedia page so we don't all sound like we're making shit up when we say our website died? Thanks.

just get the fuck off twitter what the fuck is your problem. delete your account and uninstall the app. the fuck are you waiting for

In case you need to hear one more person say it: of COURSE it was murder.

Boosting this GoFundMe for a family member's friend who's going through an unimaginably hard time. gofund.me/5eff7b2ca

man the video is circulating so settings > content & media > uncheck auto-play video & gifs

We’re setting up a national call to discuss the killing and lawlessness by ICE in Minneapolis. We’ll be joined by leaders who will provide concrete next steps for a national response. We hope you can join us: www.mobilize.us/indivisible/...

My household loves to hear a dumb song and repeat it for months. In heavy rotation: The Blob theme, Wang Chung's COVID remix, Sushi Glory Hole, a Flo Rida/Pitbull collab about white girl booty, the Christian kids' song Big House & Sweeney Todd's creepy judge song. Also in a big Scream & Shout phase.

Here's a little something from the vault to shake off the year that was. Spoilers: the dog lives. www.heywhatareyouwatching.com/emptying-the...

Anyway, DM me if you're looking for recurring or one-off TV or film coverage. I still get buckets of screeners and PR emails sent to my inbox and I've got plenty of downtime. I'm also open to editing, podcasting, newsletter/social/marketing, and other types of writing. Thanks, and happy holidays!

I still don't regret leaving Static at all, and I still think we deserve more than permalance. I also see now that my body is not what it was pre-2020, so it's best for me to be part time or remote while I heal. And as a recent immigrant, I'm not eligible for any governmental assistance. Oh well!

I have over a decade's worth of experience as an entertainment journalist, TV critic, and pop culture news writer. I've been a lead critic, senior contributor, managing editor, and EIC. You can find a thousand examples of my work here: authory.com/valerieetten...

🧵 My first attempt to get a job since leaving Static Media did not go well. I caught a vicious virus my first week and ended up sick for over a month. I currently have no job and extremely painful sprained ribs from coughing. If anyone spots remote gigs or decent writing opportunities, let me know!

Boy, the internal logic of latter-season Stranger Things is really just held together by momentum and a piece of tape, isn't it? 5A kept things moving enough to be entertaining, but after a month hiatus, everything seems more convoluted than ever.

🧵 My first attempt to get a job since leaving Static Media did not go well. I caught a vicious virus my first week and ended up sick for over a month. I currently have no job and extremely painful sprained ribs from coughing. If anyone spots remote gigs or decent writing opportunities, let me know!

He says that because unlike an unfathomable number of "christians" he READ THE FUCKING BOOK.

Don’t forget to put milk and cookies out for The Green Knight tonight. Also, read this piece by the amazing @aandeandval.bsky.social. www.slashfilm.com/715183/heres...

There's an episode of Justified where Alan Ruck's character says he always wanted to be a dentist because of the elf from Rudolph, to which Raylan responds, "Oh, the lil gay dude." My partner and I have probably said "Oh, the lil gay dude" 200+ times this year. Happy lil gay dude season, friends.

We're all caught up on Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and I fear that Whitney saying "boobs, boobers, titties, boobs" has immediately entered our lexicon.

I watched Tangerine after I had already seen The Wire and gone through a major IT obsession, so nothing could prepare me for the James Ransone casting reveal. The girls mentioned Chester so much before he showed up, and when he finally did and it was Ransone, I lost it in the funniest way possible.

I'm not really sure how to sleep at night without laying in bed for an hour thinking about how horrific the Reiner story is.

Rob Reiner was the consummate storyteller. Over and over, he revealed us to ourselves: what it is to be young and have friends, to fall in love, to feel misery and vengeance, to feel alive. And the laughs. So many laughs. The loss of Rob Reiner is... inconceivable.

I interviewed Rob Reiner as one of the bonuses for the @criterion.bsky.social BluRay of SPINAL TAP. We talked for an hour about the movie and his career and then they shut off the cameras and we talked about movies for another hour. A delightful, unhurried genius.

Wrote about how the late, great Rob Reiner had the most impossible 7-movie beginning to any director's career, and yet that's not even what he was most famous for:

Impossible to look at this and not think - yep - that's exactly what cinema is. Cruel news to wake up to and a terrible loss.