40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion

Ryan Lattanzio on "Screen Talk": "I went to see PREDATOR: BADLANDS and it's horrible!" He can't figure out why so many of his colleagues love it. I thought the same of PREY, which was similarly acclaimed, so I'll probably skip this one (unless my boys want to watch it with me).

Maybe the movie of the year. DC folks: It’s at Landmark Bethesda, Atlantic Plumbing and a theater in Leesburg, the name of which escapes me.

Another Friday off and I am watching HARD TRUTHS. Remember when Marianne Jean-Baptiste wasn’t even nominated for the Best Actress Oscar?

#letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched Took a second look at FRANKENSTEIN on the big screen and lowered my rating a half-star.

Angelina Jolie: Hero No, I won't be taking any questions at this time.

People say Bluesky came into its own on the day certain widely hated figures died, but I, not liking such celebrations, hereby declare that Bluesky came into its own today in the wake of the Sandwich-man verdict. Sandwich puns! This is the content that sets Bluesky apart!

Tonight's free member movie at Angelika was LITTLE AMELIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN, and it is a delight - childlike yet dealing with deeply existential questions about God and death. GKIDS has another winner on its hands.

Peckinpah has joined Bluesky

One of the most important things I thought I should post about today is that I have discovered a new favorite flavor of beef jerky. What’s yours?

Gonna be a good day to stay off BlueSky, friends.

I'm not quite as high on BLUE MOON as Mark is (although I liked it), but a big yes to what he writes here about NOUVELLE VAGUE, which is delightful.

I know the book's title includes the word "Prayers," but it's wild to me to see an ad for a Matthew McConaughey book in ... Christianity Today. (I did read his previous book, fwiw.)

Baseball!

Your periodic reminder that the NFL doesn’t hold a candle to MLB.

IF YOU’RE NOT LISTENING TO BLUE JAYS RADIO ON THE MLB APP MIGHT I SUGGEST YOU TURN IT ON.

What a list! Hey @eddiepasa.bsky.social, remember when I texted you from Maine, where I was watching #4 on Walter's list and just *had* to tell someone about it right then and there? Hope you eventually caught up with it. Anyway, tremendous list - claimed with authority, as I've actually seen most!

Yes! Saw this on Scream TV a couple of years ago and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Wife declared earlier this week that for the first time ever we “aren’t doing Halloween” candy-giving-out. I don’t love this but am embracing my suddenly open night by going to the movies. Sorry, kids. Don’t egg our house, ‘k?

#letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched times two again, this week thanks mostly to the Virginia Film Festival (although THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE is a Middleburg Film Festival leftover)

Tonight’s discount-day thrift-store find is a laserdisc *upgrade*! $2.99, still in its wrapper.

This is a great read.

@annebillson.bsky.social You are name-checked in this excellent piece linked by David Hudson (confession: I'm only halfway through it but stopped to type this after the writer mentioned you): www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

The local library's latest attempt to woo younger generations seems kind of strange.

I still don't know which of the pronunciations of "DeJohnette" is the correct one, and reading all of these print obituaries isn't helping.

Sorry for all the liked posts this morning. The overnight feed was rich.

2025 Virginia Film Festival Movies, Ranked

Laserdisc upgrade! I can’t find my laserdisc of LONELY ARE THE BRAVE. Is it possible I sold it? Maybe! I’ve had a couple of bulk purchases but didn’t remember that one being part of any purchase. Other Kino-Lorber sale purchases are pictured separately.

Day 2 (for me) of the Virginia Film Festival started with Christian Petzold’s MIRRORS NO. 3. Now seated for Richard Linklater’s NOUVELLE VAGUE - an auteurist’s dream (right? Tell me I’m right.)

Just out of TRAIN DREAMS, and before you guys try to convince me otherwise, let me say: It is marvelous.

Front row for TRAIN DREAMS.

Catching up over drinks at Miller’s with friend Brendan, who came from the Ben Mankiewicz Q&A with James Schamus. Ben walked by and said “hey” to Brendan, who’s now glowing, his night made.

It’s time. Time … for FRANKENSTEIN.

Same

Never heard this story. Love it.

Library book-sale haul! 7 hardbacks, $28.

It's not just the newspapers. "While declines to print readership are almost a foregone conclusion, 'digital traffic to local news sites is experiencing a cratering similar to that of print,' State of Local News Project director Zach Metzger writes in the report. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/in-m...

Can’t get to the Virginia Film Festival today as I’’d hoped for SIRAT and TWO PROSECUTORS - and I already missed RESURRECTION and THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE earlier in the week- but have a full slate for Saturday/Sunday. Love the leaves-changing-in-the-fall drive to Charlottesville each year.

#letterboxdfriday #lastfourwatched times two, thanks to the Middleburg Film Festival.

Did a double-take at the first name on this Spotify playlist. (On the second name too.)

I take it back. I was right! Gotta get my categories straight. www.facebook.com/100063502572...

I was wrong. Imagine that! www.facebook.com/100063502572...

Sorry to bore everyone by linking to another great @alissawilkinson.bsky.social review, but I'm intrigued by her mixed take. Friend who saw this in Middleburg called it the film of the fest, maybe of the year. A critical split? It's Lanthimos after all. THIS IS THE DISCOURSE I LIVE FOR.

This is a good list that I had fun arguing with. At first glance, I would've gone with MUPPETS MOST WANTED over THE MUPPETS, and I would've found a spot for Joe Cornish's THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING. Anything to knock those HARRY POTTER adaptations off the list. They don't do a thing for me. Sorry!

I was going to go to the $5 7:30 pm screening of TRON: ARES but think I’ll just stay home and listen to another audio commentary track on my TOUCH OF EVIL 4K.

Blue Jays radio guy just now: “That is the greatest moment I have ever seen.”

Can I do the ranked-list thing this way? Let's find out.

I miss this guy. (Krauthammer. Glad to know Stillman is a fan.)

I waited until the final day of the sale, but I've pulled the trigger.

Washington, DC release when?