"Faced with so much gore and blood, many fainted. As Sophon walked forward, people hurried to back away. An invisible force field seemed to surround her, repelling the mob and keeping the space around her clear. She stopped after a few steps and the crowd froze. 'Form a line,' Sophon said.."

We love the Criterion Channel's great idea to feature all the #Ripley films. In fact, we love it so much, that we did the same thing last year. uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/03/10/e...

THE TITLE OF THE EP IS KIND OF A SPOILER DON'T LOOK! If you haven't finished #TheThreeBodyProblem

The UMBers espie a similarity to Neal Stephenson’s habit of "chessboard building" before letting the game unfold, examining if Liu’s narrative setups have plausible payoffs. They also identify some of the “hapless protagonist” effect they’ve seen before in The Diamond Age and The Arrest.

For a non "character driven" novel, The Three Body Problem is full of memorable characters, with Da Shi rising above.

#FilmNoir living room... Fred MacMurray 🎞 Double Indemnity (1944)

Join Skunk Cabbage Books and Chicago BIPOC Birders for a bird walk through Humboldt Park. We'll look for birds (and any other more-than-human neighbors!) while discussing the importance of migration in nature and the ways that birds connect us all across borders.

As far as we can tell, Frankenstein's chief complaint with his creation is ugliness.

Friend of the Show Justin Reich called us from the North Woods, to give us an update on his 700 mile canoe trip. Bald eagles, river otters, and rustic hotels. uppermiddlebrow.com/2025/05/22/d...

Wanna hang out with us and Jeph from @bigcampaignpodcast.bsky.social tonight? Join us for a live watch party of the Talented Mr. Ripley. 4pm PT 7pm ET On our Discord: discord.gg/h734EZ3hBU

OG cinematic universe continues, with a story about a wounded soldier getting a new roommate.

Edward Hopper's sketchbook.

The fellowship of the stake travels to the Carpathians armed with science, Catholicism, and friendship.

Save the date! Ripley watch party, May 19th.

#Dracula is great, but Victorians could get a bit whingey.

"I'm so overwhelmed by the horrific horror of the horrorness of the horriciness" Dukes' exxagerated take on 19th century Gothic horror melodramatic prose.

Now playing, Dracula. Not a movie, the 1897 book.

📽 Joseph Cotten in #FilmNoir The Third Man 🎡

New ep: I Made a Friend and Now He's Dead Liliana Calvani's Ripley's Game

Coming soon: Ripley's Game (2002). We don't think Breaking Bad would exist without this film.

Ripley Underground (2005) might be only the 5th best Tom Ripley Film, but that doesn't mean it's bad. We enjoy the early oughties crime romp with art forgeries, impersonation, and Willem Dafoe defending the honor of Dayton.

LA Light, LA Darkness. bit.ly/4hKgYgP

Dennis Hopper's Tom Ripley is... memorable. We think he'd be a good choice for the long lost comedic Ripley movie "Weekend at Ripleys". www.youtube.com/shorts/eC1Lz...

Ohtani and Imanaga went head to head in Tokyo earlier today. Are you feeling baseball fever? Why not get psyched up by checking out our Baseball Films episode, with special guest @herberthistory.bsky.social from #HATM (link in comments)

The second of the Ripley Films.

Here's a story I wrote for the history page in today's Chicago Tribune: Decades before Irish were Chicago political royalty, they lived in a ramshackle slum called Kilgubbin www.chicagotribune.com/2025/03/16/i...

Dukes enjoys the pacing of #PurpleNoon, the first Tom Ripley movie, made in 1960. Bagg finds it ponderous, and we discuss why.

We begin our six part "Ripley En Filmes" series with the lush and sensual #PurpleNoon aka #PleinSoleil by #ReneClement starring the great #AlainDelon in his first major picture.

Justin Reich joins us to talk about what #TedChiang's #Exhalation tells us about childhood development.

WE believe these were created by Francois Sanchez, in Grenoble France, but I'm not sure. But more, please.

Justin Reich joins us to talk about the artificial intelligences in @tedchiang.bsky.social 's Exhalation.

Downloads by state heat map (darker green = more). Get on board North Dakota!!

Can you marry noir and space opera? We discuss.

Vince Gilligan: "I have a proposal; it certainly won’t fix everything but I think it’s a start. I say we write more good guys... In 2025, it’s time to say that out loud, because we are living in an era where bad guys, the real-life kind, are running amuck."

Asking a salty #raven about the surf. #OceanBeach, San Francisco. (Big, cold, and a little scary)

This is a very cool map that shows an overlay of the Chicago River as it was before the city expanded eastward via land reclamation

Every day all month long, I’ll be posting not just pictures but links to my favorite books on Black history, along with Blue Sky links if possible. Today is Day 9 with @agr.bsky.social. Get this for $16 and read it with a Dr. Pepper. www.amazon.com/dp/039333776...

"Philip Marlowe in Space" Or Leviathan Wakes, part 1. bit.ly/4aXOY7G

If you're looking too add new podcasts to your list check out Podmash by @maninjumpsuit.com We are stoked to have Jesse Dukes from @uppermiddlebrow.bsky.social suggest us. Check it out - open.spotify.com/episode/0kEs... #podcast

It was capitalism all along...