For the ~12 people who care, Sammy's DEBUT ALBUM is back on Spotify after being removed. Notable for being the only Pavement rip-off record, to the point where legal action might have been warranted, feat. a guitarist who went on to become a billionaire. open.spotify.com/album/5CwHg3...

Did Mary Bronstein go an entire press cycle without being asked about Guided by Voices?

The run of Filmmaker Magazine under Scott & Vadim produced some of the most fascinating and important work on understanding indie film in terms of economics, technology, and the actual stakes of art. I was honored to write for Vadim, easily one of the best editors I've worked with. Hire Vadim!

If you enjoy my writing, much of that is because I was edited by, and worked alongside, Vadim, who made me a stronger, more perceptive critic, thinker, and viewer. Words can hardly express how much of a blow this is to “the culture.” Hire him.

My first taste of Béla Tarr was THE TURIN HORSE and I was hooked from the masterful opening shot. His work is still essential and awe-inspiring. The best way to honor his legacy is to watch his films. The second-best way is to watch this mashup. youtu.be/ZZ3-7C6RYOE?...

Not the first time I've said it, but I do think we should sit with the fact that the folks likeliest to have predicted we'd elect a reality TV president who'd create a fascist police state where people would be put into unmarked vans for criticizing Israel have been widely ridiculed my entire life.

Well, this is specific.

It’s been a bad year for myriad reasons, but as always, a sincere thanks to the lovely editors who commissioned work from me. Business is bad all around, so if you saw my byline and chose to engage with the writing, I appreciate it. May it continue. Good tidings. Here’s a photo.

Here's 30 of my favorite first viewings from 2025 in (autobiographically) chronological order.

Don’t really know how to contain my rage after a guy at the cinema took my coat off my chair and gave it to lost and found because he “thought someone had just forgot it.” Stared at this idiot for like five seconds before realizing I can’t blow him up with my mind.

MEGADOC (Figgis, 2025): “All I’m saying is: What’s on the screen? Is it real or is it flickering light?” “It’s real!” “Okay, it’s not real.”

One of my favorite actors period. A true ringer, someone who elevated material just by showing up. His funny, unaffected delivery was unparalleled. There’s like half a dozen GENERATION KILL scenes that ran through my head after hearing the news. I found this one the quickest.

Definitive version. Have gotten a ton of mileage out of “You say that you’re a pervert, you’re a vulture / Don’t you wanna be popular culture?” youtu.be/i8yehVUF8h0?...

Last month, I spent four days in Knoxville attending FILM FEST KNOX where I watched cool regional cinema and basked in the sights. Wrote about it at length for @filmmakermagazine.com.web.brid.gy. Please check it out. filmmakermagazine.com/132553-revie...

Last month, I spent four days in Knoxville attending FILM FEST KNOX where I watched cool regional cinema and basked in the sights. Wrote about it at length for @filmmakermagazine.com.web.brid.gy. Please check it out. filmmakermagazine.com/132553-revie...

Some insufficient, drive-by thoughts on MARTY SUPREME, one of the funnest and funniest movies of the year. Was happy with it not being “about” much, but then it reveals its hand at the last minute and everything snaps into place…

am kinda over the damn moon about this review of ANOTHER WORLD ISN'T POSSIBLE in The Whitney Review (but you'll have to buy it to see it)

Sorta in awe of this talk show appearance. Eight mins are spent discussing now-niche late ’70s, early ’80s TV character actors and LOVE BOAT storylines. Vic Tayback gets name checked thrice. Hanks mentions STALAG 17. Exclusively for nerds and anyone 65+. m.youtube.com/watch?v=0SKa...

Only for the heads: if you have the chance to see Kyle Kinane in the next few months, take the chance. As a fan from the beginning, he has his best hour in maybe a decade.

Spoke with Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar about TRAIN DREAMS, shooting the logging scenes, working with animals, and, um, my *very* different interpretation of the source text. For the most recent @filmmakermagazine.com.web.brid.gy issue now online. filmmakermagazine.com/131835-inter...

Kinda funny that a pop star has a Substack at all, but I suppose it’s nice that every generation receives their own MEETING PEOPLE IS EASY (1998) in the form (blog post) they deserve.

The Bar, which lines a wall with bawdy political paintings, once featured a portrait of a nude Mark Sanford in a loving embrace with a woman on the Appalachian. Since the public quickly forgot that particular sex scandal, I often explained its origins to curious tourists. Anyway.

mayor zohran sir please immediately dispatch the boppers, gramercy riffs, turnbull ac's, hi-hats, electric eliminators, rogues, lizzies, orphans, punks and warriors to chicago to join the fight against ice

I’ll say I’m a cynical pessimist by nature, but the last time I felt this hopeful was when I canvassed and phone banked for Obama in 08 when I wasn’t old enough to vote for him. “I’m running outta heroes man. Guys like you are in short supply,” etc. etc.

You know, he lit up the world with his beautiful smirk.

At least twice during tonight’s performance, The Beta Band transcended the ’90s—white guys into rap, “sampledelica,” the legacy of Beck—to become the Scottish rebirth of Can (if every member was a percussionist). I wanna tell my stoner 16-yr-old self: You backed the right horse.

Heartbreaking, unfair, inevitable.

This game may have made this the craziest World Series of my life. What happens when this is over? These guys played two games in one night. How is anyone gonna be functional?

They’re cooking over on /r/baseball right now

oh no, the fox broadcast is zooming in on normal food in the stadium somewhere while the broadcasters say "that looks good to eat." they're developing Regular Season Madness

Who is doing this horrible cover of “Behind Blue Eyes” in the trailer for this dogshit Patrick Dempsey-starring hitman show on Fox? It’s horrible.

I honestly believe if the game goes to the 14th inning, you gotta start selling beer again. What are you, an asshole?

Happy to be there writing On IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (one of the year’s finest films) and the relief of seeing Jafar Panahi finally working outside his own head. Also includes a brief examination of my own (embarassing, unsettling) feelings about vengeance in fascist times.

On THE MASTERMIND, Kelly Reichardt’s reserved political sensibility, the rise of the Me Decade, and the fact that we’re all on the chopping block, for @thenation.com Check it out! www.thenation.com/article/cult...

No correct aspect ratio upload to be found on YouTube, and I could be more rigorous about my editing, but I genuinely think this is some of the funniest 106 seconds in comedy history, and definitely in my top five Simpsons jokes.

One of my best friends recently discovered, and has been painfully remastering, the archives of our radio show Unbridled Enthusiasm that we eventually transitioned into a podcast hosted out of his dorm room. Was pleasantly surprised how not bad it was. College radio is manna.

VOODOO probably has legit claim to best post-Marvin R&B record and BLACK MESSIAH was such a massive deal in my corner of the world. Ludicrous that he’s gone so soon.

R.I.P.

Never do stuff like this, but if any editors I follow want to publish my funny, embarsssing story of meeting Marc Maron when I was 19 years old that easily doubles as a WTF remembrance, please get in touch. It has an arc and everything.

Regret to inform everyone that, yes, it looks better on VistaVision and it’s worth rolling the dice on the finnicky tech.

Kaleb Horton was the type of writer I always wanted to be. His stories were important. His life was important. I’m so, so sad that he’s gone.

Wrote many rambling and insufficient thoughts about Ross McElwee’s excellent, heartbreaking new feature REMAKE. Hope this film receives a release, and may McElwee’s work receive a higher profile. For @indiewire.com.web.brid.gy www.indiewire.com/criticism/mo...

Wrote about one of my favorite films, and the woman behind it, for @indiewire.com '70s week. Tried to capture the spirit of the thing. www.indiewire.com/features/bes...

Granted, I’m at the airport, but the utter indignity of having to order a drink off a fucking app while literally looking at a physical bartender. Just a miserable world we’ve built.

I spoke to Akiva Schaffer about directing THE NAKED GUN. Topics include: getting the BEVERLY HILLS COP II-esque look right, focus testing comedies, and using SUPERMAN’s stunt coordinator for a key scene. Good talk. Check it out! filmmakermagazine.com/131443-inter...

Spoke to Ari Aster about EDDINGTON for @filmmakermagazine.com.web.brid.gy. Good stuff on shot listing and aspect ratios. Check it out! filmmakermagazine.com/131427-inter...

I don't have a blog, so sometimes I use Letterboxd as a blog. Some digressive thoughts about why I couldn't get 90 seconds from this movie out of my head, if you care to peruse. letterboxd.com/vikramkmurth...

Zohran Mamdani, it’s your destiny to embrace the Millennial moment Obama never could; you must make “Mr. November” by The National your general election campaign song.

For those who need a brief break from reading about national/municipal politics: on THE STUDIO, a hollow, missed-opportunity satire that looks at the rot at the heart of contemporary entertainment and…mostly shrugs. For @thenation.com Check it out. www.thenation.com/article/cult...