Been terribly, terrifyingly ill for a couple weeks now. Came on here and saw someone saying Jennifer Beals got her big break in DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS and I'm going to go right back to bed.

In addition to all the stuff that's not legal here, recall that law enforcement is not allowed to kneel on necks in Minneapolis anymore post-George Floyd. Meanwhile: someone should probably figure out who's getting checks from private prisons housing these hostages. (hint: everybody)

Love this for Rodgers.

PRIMATE is just a mean little piece of shit.

It seems kinda like chimps aren't great house pets.

For the evening crowd.

The most devastating effect of this Trump administration is how it tells the very worst people that there will be no consequences for their actions.

If you're taking to the streets to protest, know your rights.

For the morning crowd.

HBD Walter Hill!! W/D 48 Hrs, Driver; W #70s Mackintosh, Getaway, Drowning Pool, Hard Times (+ D), Hickey/Boggs More @matt-thrift.bsky.social: www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/w... @keithroysdon.bsky.social: crimereads.com/what-is-the-... @mangiotto.bsky.social book via MZS Press: mzs.press/A-Walter-Hil...

FFC Patreon exclusive: "The 50 Best Films of 2025," by Walter Chaw (@mangiotto.bsky.social). Patreon subscribers only until January 16. filmfreakcentral.net/2026/01/the-...

Happiest of birthdays to my brother, @flmfrkcentral.bsky.social. I'd be lost without him.

The ICE officer involved in the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother in Minneapolis, fired the first of three shots as the car moved past him, a Reuters analysis of the available visuals shows reut.rs/49s6WyN

“Emerson does not have a mother today because one of you murdered a woman in cold blood yesterday.”

Ex-Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura: “We’re a 3rd world country now. I know. I’ve been to ‘em. I spent 17 months in SE Asia while the draft dodger was playing golf… that’s what happens in a dictatorship. In comes the military. That’s what’s happening here.” 🇺🇸

Timberwolves hold a moment of silence for Renee Nicole Good

I’ve heard from multiple friends today about daycares being raided and parents being ripped out of cars (in one case with a child left behind in the backseat). Grim times here.

My new favorite thing is every dipshit chucklefuck thinking literally everything is written by AI. I mean, it only stole all of our work to get where it is. but sure. I was writing professionally when AI was still a fantasy of dystopian sci-fi, but sure.

Fuck. Yeah.

Just turned in my annual best of list. 14pgs. If you've ever considered contributing to the @flmfrkcentral.bsky.social fund, just the smelling salt budget at HQ is outrageous.

They didn’t care about police officers when they were being beaten with American flags outside of the Capitol. They cheered it on when it happened. And they cheered it on when Trump pardoned them.

I liked IS THIS THING ON? A lot more when it was a talking horse.

Me on @npr.org . www.npr.org/2026/01/07/n...

A reminder - before Trump, MAGA, Musk and Fox rewrote history - that this is what the entire country agreed had happened five years ago today:

Yes.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

For the Monday crowd.

@mangiotto.bsky.social Your booklet for the @filmsradiance.bsky.social Hossein boxset is excellent. Some nice insights and ideas. Great package all round as usual from Radiance. And the movies!

FFC review: ANACONDA (2025), by Walter Chaw (@mangiotto.bsky.social). filmfreakcentral.net/2026/01/anac...

The deleted post quoted above was, no surprise, a Palestinian fundraiser. Leaving it up to say, Bluesky moderators, please stop being Zionist pieces of shit.

GOP: "Hey, we just unilaterally and extra-judiciously kidnapped a foreign leader! LOL!" DEMS: "... that's illegal" GOP: "We *said* LOL!"

Best Picture: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (57 points) Runners-up: SINNERS (29 points) THE SECRET AGENT (27 points)

Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (54 points) Runners-up: Jafar Panahi, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (48 points) Richard Linklater, BLUE MOON and NOUVELLE VAGUE (39 points)

Best Film Not in the English Language: THE SECRET AGENT (58 points) Runners-up:
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (57 points) SENTIMENTAL VALUE (38 points)

Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, BLUE MOON (57 points) Runners-up: Wagner Moura, THE SECRET AGENT (43 points) Michael B. Jordan, SINNERS (36 points)

Best Supporting Actor: Benicio del Toro, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (54 points) Runners-up: Delroy Lindo, SINNERS (37) Stellan Skarsgård, SENTIMENTAL VALUE (30 points)

Best Screenplay: Jafar Panahi, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (53 points) Runners-up: Robert Kaplow, BLUE MOON (50 points) Kleber Mendonça Filho, THE SECRET AGENT (40 points)

Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, SINNERS (50 points) Runners-up:
 Adolpho Veloso, TRAIN DREAMS (36 points) Michael Bauman, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (29 points)

Best Supporting Actress: Teyana Taylor, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (56 points) Runners-up: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, SENTIMENTAL VALUE (47 points) Wunmi Mosaku, SINNERS (41 points)

Best Actress: Kathleen Chalfant, FAMILIAR TOUCH (45 points) Runners-up: Rose Byrne, IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU (39 points) Renate Reinsve, SENTIMENTAL VALUE (37 points)

ANACONDA... I just don't know, you guys.

Decembers are always tough. Some cramming, grading finals, illness... Only managed 69 screenings for a final 2025 total of 1021. Best first time watches last month? WINTER IN SOKCHO (2025), THE PLAGUE (2025), FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER (2025), OBEX (2025).

What an incredible year for movies.

Working on my Best of 2025 list and hate to tell you, your favorite movie is down in the 40s somewhere.

What does it mean when your doctors want to give you the same cognitive test three times in a year? That's good, right?

If you're curious, here's my top 10 of 2025 courtesy of a TFCA Instagram story. Alt text provided.

END OF DAYS rules. Schwarzenegger makes a coffee/Pepto Bismol/Chinese takeout/pizza smoothie for breakfast and gets his ass kicked in hand-to-hand combat with Miriam Margolyes, and Gabriel Byrne punches a hole through Udo Kier's head, and Mark Margolis plays the Pope.

This year was awful and exhilarating and utterly bizarre, but getting to see my collaboration with @seantroversy.bsky.social (and @barsukrecords.bsky.social and @latentprintrecords.bsky.social!) in my favorite local record store was a golden, glowing, highlight.

I was thrilled to come back to @defector.com to write about "Alligator Alcatraz," the vicious folklore of "gator bait," and the long history of white supremacists trying to recruit alligators as enforcers of racial terror

Here's that comic I did with @lanedraws.bsky.social for @maconblair.bsky.social's TOXIC AVENGER. What an honor.