BACKROOMS baby! good shit!

this is very good!

my next substack essay will be on GIRLS TOWN, FOXFIRE and THE CRAFT btw

oh god do I have to watch mother! again just to compare

I am a woman with a TWIN PEAKS tattoo! I can handle watching a woman suffer onscreen, but you’ve got to be going somewhere with it. barker didn’t take us anywhere. we didn’t leave the parking lot.

what feels most cathartic to me personally—as a critic—is when the movie I watch seems finished. a complete thought. a full vision. *that* makes me feel something I want a meal, not crumbs

OBSESSION is the catalyst, but in general I’m irritated with the idea that if a movie punishes a bad man that it’s doing something really interesting and subversive. it’s also why I didn’t care for the MARTY SUPREME discourse. I know marty is not real. he’s not my ex-boyfriend!

I don’t give a shit about a character getting his comeuppance. the character is not a real person. the director is. a director shows what he cares about by how he presents the story.

I didn’t say the film exonerated him. I said it didn’t care about her. bear is not the director of the movie. barker is. he has the capacity to care about nikki, but he doesn’t. I’m being very clear about what I mean here and you’re not getting it.

yes

I don’t think there’s much subversion in the film at all. it’s a be careful what you wish for story without actually getting into why the wish itself was bad. it’s not just because it might make a woman act crazy. the problem is bear doesn’t think of women as people and he never learns that they are

a lot of modern horror is just yelling the text at you over and over instead of actually giving us a unique cinematic experience and I’m tired of it! make a fucking film! lol

my thing is—bear is a piece of shit, I don’t need the movie to hold my hand and tell me that. but the director should care enough about the details of her character to give “us” (the audience) something.

I think inde does an incredible job without having a character to play and I want the world for her after this. it’s insane that by the end we don’t even know if nikki lives alone or has roommates. she’s not close to her dad, so whose house was that? who is missing her?

I hope it‘s safe here to say that OBSESSION is a bad movie and I don’t care that dude’s a youtuber at all. it’s just poorly paced, poorly lit, structurally unsound with a bad script and ultimately forgettable.

no one from THE HILLS should be allowed to do politics

she’a having a cocktail and contemplating her entire life (karaoke was canceled)

In #TheCurrents, Milagros Mumenthaler paints an intimate portrait of a woman trying to reckon with her fractured identity, trying not to fall into the grip of madness. Read @judysquirrels.bsky.social's review ahead of the U.S. release this Friday:

We’re looking for original, inventive experimental films that reflect the diverse perspectives of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Since 1987, our festival has offered a platform for filmmakers, artists, and creators to showcase their work, connect with audiences, and participate in meaningful dialogue.

im on the programming team this year!

my little sister brianna is raising money for her cheer squad! raise.snap.app/donate/evans...

As good an opportunity as any to post Orson Welles talking about his role in this movie

Jourdain did an Overhated on Earth Girls Are Easy!

It's true! She's great at it! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/2...

btw I’m always available to be on podcasts, radio shows, etc.

Stephen Winter's radical revisitation JASON AND SHIRLEY REVISITED screens Tuesday at Nitehawk Prospect Park, followed by a Q&A with Winter moderated by @judysquirrels.bsky.social

this is tomorrow night! tickets still available!

I wrote about IS GOD IS for @thr.com. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

watch the original film PORTRAIT OF JASON on @criterionchannl.bsky.social, @kanopy.com and OVID! www.criterionchannel.com/videos/portr...

If you'd like to read an essay by me about this film, the poliziottesco, and the Years of Lead, you can purchase this very fine edition!

New York: this is worth your time.

I wrote about IS GOD IS for @thr.com. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

This is a great Draft and an auspicious rookie showing from @camjourdan.bsky.social & @maddiewhittle.bsky.social! Check it out! (Also I have now fixed the audio so that I'm not a few seconds ahead of everyone else in the second half)

JASON AND SHIRLEY REVISITED, the radical revisitation of Stephen Winter’s 2015 film, screens Tuesday 5/19 at Nitehawk Prospect Park, followed by a Q&A with Winter, moderated by @judysquirrels.bsky.social.

update: my boyfriend’s mother has listened to this episode lmao

update: my boyfriend’s mother has listened to this episode lmao

found out I probably have endometriosis and I want to email every editor I’ve ever had and tell them the mystery has been solved (probably!) because honestly if it didn’t make me late on deadlines I probably would have never figured it out (I only deal with things when they get in the way of work)

my boyfriend can’t go a single day without mentioning neil young

FYI trans Americans with a Canadian ancestor can apply for expedited processing on their applications for Canadian citizenship!

it’s me and my mom in 1997? 1998?

PORTRAIT OF JASON is such a great movie! I had the privilege of reviewing the 2013 re-release for SF Weekly.