Just a quick reminder that the world is on fire and escapism is a powerful tool to fuel your resistance. Unconvinced? Please come to my talk at Cornell tomorrow (9/25)!

Will you be in the Finger Lakes on September 25? Please join me (and Cornell's Department of Literatures in English) as I talk about escapism, TikTok, and I Saw the TV Glow, one of the best movies made this century: events.cornell.edu/event/escapi...

I am done paying for Ari Aster's childhood therapy. When he can make a movie that doesn't demonize mothers/matriachs, please, let me know. Until then, I've had enough.

Let's try this again without the adult content block! Come for the cheeks, stay for the theory!

Reading philosophies of shame for an upcoming essay on Below Deck and discovering that I already thoughtfully, thoroughly highlighted all the passages I need now. But... when? why? Did I write something about shame that I have since repressed?

Hold onto your butts, folks--my butt shot article is finally out! Thanks for all of your help, hivemind. I can't wait to hear what you think! Here's an open access link: www.google.com/url?q=https:...

Professional dream realized: Got to review the new Stephen King novel for the Washington Post! wapo.st/3Hos7qQ

Nobody fucks with the Society of Jesus.

Remember when we let JD Vance masquerade as some sort of modern dad pro-family aisle-crosser? These people don't want to help working families; they want to do social engineering. prospect.org/health/2025-...

If a person only had time to watch one or two Jean-Claude Van Damme movies for their theory of the butt shot, which ones would you recommend?

1: pls know that there's no way to search "butt shot" in a way that brings up useful histories or outstanding instances of this cinematic trope. 2: any recommendations for criticism of butt shots, either specific instances or as a trope? 3: anyone willing to share favorite filmic butt shots?

Anora was a comedy?! The Golden Globes are such trash.

Great news! My article on Jane Schoenbrun and I Saw the TV Glow is no longer paywalled! Thank you to @filmquarterly.bsky.social and @textplusimage.bsky.social-- here's the new link: online.ucpress.edu/fq/article/7...

There are way too many necessary causes that need our support right now but as co-chair of @scmstudies.bsky.social's Precarious Labor SIG I hope some of you might consider donating to SCMS' fund if able. We had 120+ applicants (!!) request membership fee waivers. Our lottery could only cover 43. 😑

Updated my MSWord and Excel with GU-licensed software and now both are ReadOnly. Because it seems that's all GU paid for (unless I work only online, which no). I had to set up a private acct to restore access to Word and Excel. In short: I can write as a private person but not as Georgetown faculty.

Did you know that this exist? A tool to pre-populate syllabi with days and dates! Useful for many people I know at this point in the year. Thanks to @alexisshotwell.bsky.social for alerting me to it.

So, so happy to report that my article on I Saw the TV Glow and Jane Schoenbrun's horror trilogy is out now in Film Quarterly. If you haven't seen this fantastic film, please do! If you're interested in my take, you can find the essay at doi.org/10.1525/fq.2... or DM me for a PDF.

Narrative complexity aside, if seriality was the guiding principle of Peak TV, what would you call the opposite of that--i.e., TV series that impose a full narrative reset at the end of each episode? It's not the same as a floating timeline... narrative stasis? episodism? Taking all suggestions!

Gut check, folks (esp film folks): the line "Come on, legs" from "Ease on Down the Road" in The Wiz, that's a reference to the "Come on, legs" verse from "Come on Feet" in Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, right? Or am I just hearing that because I'm writing about both of them?

After fifteen years, our senior shih tzu has discovered that the toilet paper holder is also a perfectly serviceable doggy buffet. The books are starting to look a little nervous...