Finally (!) posted my first fic to #AO3, a #StarWars horror mini-sequel to "The Rise of Skywalker": THE LAST SHIP ON EXEGOL A crew of five hunts the dread halls of the Exegol citadel for any surviving Sith plans… but their search becomes a fight for survival when something starts to hunt them.

Rocky is just Gorignak mixed with Dug. #filmsky

BARRY LYNDON is a masterpiece. However, when deciding “what is Kubrick’s best,” it is immediately knocked out of the running by having Ryan O’Neil in the lead. #filmsky

Rewatching A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and realizing that my bad Vincent Price impression is actually a mediocre Malcolm McDowell impression. #filmsky

Them- Do you feel like watching Star Trek episodes you haven’t seen? Me- I’m okay for now but I’ll come back to it some day. Them- Do you want to watch the two old hacks at RLM talk about Star Trek episodes you haven’t seen? Me- Inject it into my eyes. Right. Now.

I can point to countless examples in movies where audiences complained that the animation looked weightless and too fast, and indicate all of those times that the director asked for it to be exactly that way.

“All of Wes Anderson’s movies are about people grappling with immeasurable loss and depression, despite their whimsical aesthetics.”- Me Popping on ISLE OF DOGS, thinking “This one may not fit.” 15 mins in: the Boy gets his dog after being orphaned. #filmsky

From 2018: "Every once in a while, Twitter is great. Like the time a bunch of film directors dunked hard on an ignorant VFX take."

It’s so funny watching 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY in 2026 because they’re like “if Hal made 1 mistake after a literally perfect track record, we have to pull the plug.” And we’re like “AI constantly hallucinates, screws everything up, and gets teens to kill themselves. Let’s give it all our fresh water.”

It sounds paradoxical but Buster Keaton’s 30s talkie shorts are exponentially more silent than his famous silent films. Replacing propellant scores with sparse, rudimentary sound design creates large stretches of energy sucking quiet that kills the momentum and timing of gags. Tragic #filmsky

I know we all wish there were several THE NICE GUYS sequels but I’m noticing that we’re slowing down in also complaining that there aren’t a ton of DREDD sequels and I need everybody to start picking up pace. Whining will keep the dream alive. #filmsky

I guess you could say that I too am pro… logue.

Shovel your shit!

Now we all know that THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL is a perfect album. But what I’m suggesting is that Heresy is misplaced and nothing should be between Piggy and March of the Pigs.

It’s Toshiro Mifune’s birthday today. I never would’ve predicted that, after all this time, he was the April Fool. #filmsky

Insane that Justin Hurwitz didnt even get an Oscar nomination for this beautiful score. Makes this scene sing. Found it so powerful in the cinema. youtu.be/zfNhkYHrfj0?...

Was gonna treat myself to that SAMURAI REVOLUTION TRILOGY from Arrow but I guess I’ll fill up my gas tank instead.

Watching some Buster Keaton talkies and still not entirely convinced that’s his actual voice and not Mel Blanc doing a bit. #filmsky

The “politics in art” is always a bit silly imo because every piece of art comes from a person with political experiences who lives in a political context in a political era. Good luck yanking all of that out of your work. Might as well try and write without predicates.

Wait… Did Kubrick invent the fluoride phobic conspiracy theorist in DR. STRANGELOVE or did he base it off existing crazies that have only grown in number? Either way, the satire has lapsed into reality across the board with this one. #filmsky

The artists who claim their art isn’t political are those who are both comfortable and convinced their politics are the “natural” and “realistic” order. It’s only political when they disagree with it. #filmsky

RIP, Eric Overmyer. Wrote on The Wire. Co-created Treme. Created Bosch. One of the few writer/producers, both working with David Simon and on his own, who actually knew how to make the "every season of our show is a Novel For Television" structure work.

The core idea of having Obi Wan act as a detective to investigate an assassination/murder plot that has him going to seedy bars, diners, labs, underground fights and other noir staples is a damn good concept for expanding beyond western/samurai fiction in space.

Was present to witness Meiko Kaji sing the theme from Lady Snowblood at @jsfilmnyc.bsky.social this afternoon, a true life highlight for me.

That's quite the sign:

Man, Keaton’s directing career may have imploded shortly after signing with MGM but THE CAMERAMAN really does feel like him relishing having the power of a studio backing him. The camera moves so much more and there’s huge set gags that are nonchalantly tossed into minor scenes. #filmsky

Saw 2 French films in theater this weekend, from filmmakers that I love, virtually by myself, without knowing a single thing about the films themselves (I’d only seen posters, no trailers). Highly recommend this experience. ALPHA and A MAGNIFICENT LIFE are both alpha and magnificent. #filmsky

John Waters never disappoints

Currently watching FUNNY GIRL and every time I see Omar Sharif in white face I like to imagine him on the set of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, starring at Alec Guinness and thinking, “I will have my revenge!” #filmsky

STEAMBOAT BILL JR is fascinating because the premise promises yet another “Keaton on a boat” romp but he seemingly lost interest in that conceit and thought “what if a storm blows through and I do every door gag imaginable???” And that rocks. #filmsky

Has anyone written about the relationship between Ducournau’s ALPHA and THE SCARLET LETTER or should that be the focus of my glowing letterboxd review?

According to letterboxd, I’ve seen 1,998 action movies. So it bothers me to no end that I can’t discuss how gobsmackingly genius THE RAID 2 is without sounding like a Reddit bro whose knowledge of the genre begins and ends with that film and JOHN WICK (which also rules). But it’s a cross I’ll bear

Anyone know when the next Arrow sale at Barnes and Noble is?

Have you ever reckoned with the ending of GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL in the year of 2026, in the wake of Covid, ICE and Trumpism? And you accuse Wes Anderson of being “cold” and “artificial”??? #filmsky

Hot take: Hard cuts are the funniest cuts. #filmsky

GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is one of the truly perfect movies released in my lifetime. #filmsky

FANTASTIC MR. FOX is when Wes Anderson fully realized his power as a filmmaker. #filmsky

can you believe there are people out there who didn’t like Eddington???

Really struggling with how many people are gleefully using AI for their jobs, thinking they get to be lazier, but not realizing they’re training their replacements so CEOs can hoard even more wealth.

I don’t know how to explain this… But EDDINGTON exists because of the bad takes for ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. #filmsky

Addiction is an awful thing. RIP, Nicholas Brendon.

Chuck Norris means very ltitle to me. My dad, though? Oh, man, does he love Chuck Norris. So here's the story of how I got the two of them together for coffee one morning...

The wisdom of age: remembering how incredulous/annoyed I was when someone said THE KILLING was Kubrick’s best film and now, thinking “I get it” for what is accomplished in 80 mins and on that budget. It’s still wrong. But intriguingly so. #filmsky

Is THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN the funniest sad movie or the saddest funny movie? #filmsky

Finishing up my rewatch of the original TWIN PEAKS and it’s such a funny gag that they have every man in the show drop his jaw for Teen Witch. I’m not saying she isn’t beautiful but have they seen EVERY OTHER WOMAN IN THIS TOWN????

You can google and see a SINNERS cast member saying it’s not horror. GDT is on the record saying FRANKENSTEIN isn’t horror. Nights like tonight should prove that horror is nothing to be ashamed of. If laughter from comedies and tears from dramas are universal, so are the feelings we get from horror.

Now release Hard Eight, Criterion.

A big takeaway this year has to be that Sinners and One Battle After Another were big, artist driven, swings bankrolled by WB whose future is ultimately unclear. I like living in a world where people like PTA and Ryan Coogler get to make the films they want to make with those resources.

My favorite of the year won but I was kind of rooting for SINNERS to take it all the way. But hey, I thought every win was worthy this year. And Conan kills. And Hulu didn’t arbitrarily kick me out for the last two categories. Success!!! #Oscars #filmsky