by Eric Karl Marx

Excited to be presenting on Midnight Mass and horror acting at #SCMS2026 today as part of this esteemed panel. Have an early dinner, because this Flanagan fest begins promptly at 6:15pm!

New Kool-Aid Man just dropped

Celebrity dinner party. You can invite two people.

The Fugitive is a St. Patrick's Day movie

“AI can never be AI without humans. It is not artificial intelligence. It’s African intelligence...We are training our own death. We train ChatGPT and it’s killing us slowly.” Kenyan workers are still the underpaid labor behind AI training, moderation, and sex chatbots. Now, they're fighting back.

A striking feature of Trump and his team is: they somehow imagine a world in which they are the only actors, only ones with power, and whether it's Tehran or Minneapolis are surprised when it turns out others do. There are many kinds of power and many nations with power.

A fool and his hour are soon parted. Happy Daylight Saving to all who celebrate.

"Run the government like a business" say the people who don't know how to run a business or a government.

THREAD: I got laid off from NYMag/Vulture after 14 years. The family lost 75% of income + medical. Now mzs.press bookstore, once a side project. is do-or-die for Judith & I. I feel weird telling you this because others are doing much worse. But if you could like or share this, we'd be so grateful!

Huh!

Black Mirror can't top this: "Burger King is launching an AI chatbot ["Patty"] that will live in the headsets used by employees. [It] will not only assist employees with meal preparation but also evaluate their interactions with customers for 'friendliness.'” www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

On the ideals of the Olympics, the fiction of hockey romance, and the real world: defector.com/the-u-s-hock...

The temperature dropped from 54F to 33F over the first two hours of today's drive. Drove through a gnarly hail/lightning storm at 33F (what a way to experience Toledo!). Thick fog set in. By the time I reached the Ambassador Bridge there wasn't much bridge to see.

JOB POST in FILM STUDIES: @kingsfilmstudies.bsky.social is hiring Lecturer w specialism(s) in 1 or more of following: 1) Film & Media Practice as Research / Filmmaking; 2) Film Curation +/or Archiving; 3) Non-Fiction Film & Media. Deadline MAR 2nd! Please pass along. www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/137766-...

Canada advances!!!

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide. This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

This is incredible!

This would be, in every way, worse than a Netflix-WB deal. No point in preserving the integrity of the theatrical experience for a company funded by a right-wing ideologue. I don't believe there's a world in which Larry Ellison funds One Battle or Sinners. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/b...

Drop an album that was important to you when you were 19

I drove through ice fog this morning outside London, ON. Didn't have time to stop, so I snapped a few shots from the road. It was beautiful.

I drove through ice fog this morning outside London, ON. Didn't have time to stop, so I snapped a few shots from the road. It was beautiful.

Fellow #IU Alums, Please check out this letter (to you!) and join us in pledging to withhold donations from the school until our alma mater takes steps to restore the values it once held so dear. And share with any alums in your network.

The IOC is attempting to ban Ukrainian olympic skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych from wearing his "helmet of remembrance" honoring Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia's war on Ukraine. As fellow Ukrainian olympian Olena Smaha wrote on her glove, "Remembrance is not a violation." Shame on the IOC.

A significant part of my integration into Canadian life has involved listening to Buck Martinez's color commentary. The distinct timbre of his voice and the cadence of his stories are seared into my experience of Jays games. Baseball color commentary is an art form, and Martinez was an artist.

Not for nothing, but it was a Washington Post article about romance fiction that pushed Jacob Tierney to contact Rachel Reid about making #HeatedRivalry.

What the archaeologists of the future will discover about us | National Geographic

Finally! My book Super Nintendo is out TODAY in the US + Canada. Here's where to buy it: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753986... "MacDonald is one of the best games journalists... Here is a book bursting with love. Bop your head against it and see if a shower of gold coins comes out." -The Times

Surely, I thought, the Taika Waititi-directed Xfinity/Jurassic Park Super Bowl ad can't be as terrible as these cursed images suggest. Having suffered through the abomination, I can say it's somehow even worse. An affront to technology, performance, dinosaurs, and hell even Super Bowl ads.

A film so revolutionary it has created a new form of spectatorship: interplaying.

Let’s say exhibitors eat about $45M through the end of the run. MGM looks to eat about $65M, for a total loss of $110M. That means the Bezos bribe to Trump of $26M also cost others in the industry another $84M

In 1942, RKO slashed 43 minutes from Orson Welles's "The Magnificent Ambersons" and slapped on a happy ending. Now, an A.I. company wants to restore what was lost. Are they righting a historic wrong or descrating a classic? My deep dive, in this week's New Yorker. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Reports suggest the rare earth elements will be hoarded within the abandoned Dwarf kingdom of Erebor. apnews.com/article/trum...

In our latest book review, Lianne Leddy examines @tinaadcock.bsky.social's A Cold Colonialism: Modern Exploration and the Canadian North ( @ubcpress.bsky.social 2025) niche-canada.org/2026/01/30/r... #envhist #cdnhist #arctic #bookreview #histsci

My team in the Office of Public Scholarship at Washington University in St. Louis is hiring a Projects Specialist. Our team helps WashU scholars translate research and creative work for audiences beyond the university. This is a full-time position with benefits, etc. Come join us!

Don't believe that American Groundhog Day misinformation. Our panel of experts have so far determined that it's going to be an early spring.

A genius actor who has made me cry and cackle with delight more times than I can count. What a loss. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...

I talk about celebrity, documentary, and propaganda in Leanne Delap's Toronto Star piece on the Melania film. www.thestar.com/entertainmen...

"The administration’s defeat in Minnesota is a perfect illustration of the importance of accurate information to a democracy. It’s also a perfect illustration of the lengths to which this White House will go to deceive Americans." www.theringer.com/2026/01/28/n...

“Diana, 7, had a nosebleed that just wouldn’t stop and her parents, immigrants from Venezuela with a pending asylum petition, were increasingly worried about her health. They never got to see a doctor. Three unmarked cars with immigration agents surrounded their car in the ER parking lot”

National media should really be covering the fact thay every major school, museum, and arts institution in the Twin Cities, and hundreds of local businesses are closed tomorrow to protest federal occupation. Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.

Curt Cignetti famously said "Google me. I win." If you Google Cignetti now, the first thing that appears is "Yup, he won."

I'm not used to IU football making me cry for this reason

Wow this piece from fellow Indiana native and IU alum Jane Pauley hit me right in the feels. www.cbsnews.com/video/hail-t...

Come work with us, Part 2! Associate Professor of the Practice, Multi-Episode Television Producing—Deadline January 30 www.higheredjobs.com/institution/...

Come work with us! Boston University's Department of Film and Television is hiring a Professor of the Practice: Studio and/or Field Directing, Multi-Cam—Deadline January 30 www.higheredjobs.com/institution/...

www.404media.co/elite-the-pa... "Palantir is working on a tool for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that populates a map with potential deportation targets, brings up a dossier on each person, and provides a “confidence score” on the person’s current address, 404 Media has learned."