Last night I rewatched The Ice Storm, my first time seeing it since high school. I still think it's a sharp suburban satire, a better American Beauty than American Beauty, so the main difference all these years later is which characters caught my eye. Put another way: damn Sigourney.

Best first-time viewings, March: 1. Father Brother Sister Brother (Jarmusch, 2026) 2. Heat Lighting (Leroy, 1934) 3. Undertone (Tuason, 2026) 4. Reprise (Trier, 2006) 5. The Octopus (Painlevé, 1928)

Criticism is a conversation, not a lecture, so you should distrust/avoid those who routinely pull the Last Honest Man routine Jason describes. THAT BEING SAID! I do think critics get to play the "history will prove me right" card every now and again. Maybe once every other year tops.

My full review is forthcoming, but The Drama reminded me of early Neil Labute (complementary). Like In the Company of Men and The Shape of Things, it uses the look and language of affluence to explore something ugly and hidden about human nature.

Incredible. Acevedo has been working consistently in TV and film for over thirty years. What he describes here is a trickle-down effect that happens when film studios are reluctant to make mid-budget films with modest returns on investment.

Jamie has the right idea! I donated to Maryland Trans*Unity, and I hope you will do the same for this org or many others like it that need your help.

Shitty documentaries about worthwhile subjects are all too common.

Nico’s “These Days” playing as Margot Tenenbaum steps off the bus. This scene was my first introduction to the song, and it sums up Richie’s infatuation without being too cloying about it.

The “freelance writer” is an award-winning novelist. At best, he nearly blew a deadline; at worst, he thinks writing reviews is beneath him. Either way, book crit is flooded with peers reviewing one another’s work, a dubious practice, and I hope this inspires editors to hire actual fucking critics.

Not even The Onion could have anticipated Weir's stupidity.

In a rare confluence of my interests, here are Bob and Gene covering Joy Division.

🚨🚨🚨 NEW CATATONICYOUTHS SUPERCUT 🚨🚨🚨 Just like AI can never create great art, it can never replicate the utter lack of self-awareness necessary to make the cringe trash contained herein.

Earnest music post: the new album by the Scottish band The Twilight Sad is excellent. They've been around for 20 years, but it finally sounds like they're meeting the moment. They split the difference between Mogwai and The Cure, plus the vocalist sings with a HEAVY Scottish accent.

France was great, but I am glad to be back.

No director, not even one that has the Palme d’Or, should get away with Portishead, Nick Cave, and Beethoven needle drops like this.

Just spent the past hour writing postcards, which I always do when I’m traveling. They range from wholesome/genuine, to so profane I may go to hell for what I write on them. It’s cheaper and easier than lugging back a gift, and who doesn’t like getting mail that’s not another catalog, ad, or bill?

So @jonfischer.bsky.social’s original reporting was correct. The admin’s pissy denial - likely done out of pure spite - is funnier than any “joke” Maher ever told.

The first HP book came out when I was 12, right when I was getting into King, Vonnegut, and Le Guin. I aged out immediately. I read some of the books later, so I get the appeal, but I spent my teens and early twenties rolling my eyes at folks in my cohort talking about their patronus or whatever.

I have never seen a Harry Potter movie, so I am not about to start with a TV remake where I feel nothing but pity for the kid actors and simmering rage toward the adults.

We have the technology. The time is now. Science can wait no longer. Children are our future. America can, should, must, and will give up the moon (then blow it up).

I stopped for lunch at a pizza place in Dijon, and encountered a cursed arrangement of portraits in the bathroom.

I went to a 3 star Michelin restaurant for lunch (pricy, but not as pricy as dinner). How they earned it: after the main, my fork stained the tablecloth, and within moments of noticing it, someone on the staff laid down this discreet square to hide the offending blemish. Behold my square of shame.

Where things are: now that The Washington Post decimated nearly all its arts coverage, NYMag is on the DC theater beat.

Winery kitty is on the prowl.

Greetings from Burgundy, the heart of France’s wine country, where I somehow stumbled upon a chateau whose grounds celebrate the military industrial complex (the wine was good, too).

You should go to more shows. For the @wcp.bsky.social spring arts guide, I wrote up Mclusky, Gelli Haha, and Dry Cleaning. That’s only a drop in the bucket for what’s ahead.

Project Hail Mary is a good buddy comedy stymied by planet-sized bloat. My @spectrumculture.bsky.social review.

My wedding also marks the first (and likely only) time I have crowdsurfed.

Ten years.

Walk the Moon - “Shut Up and Dance”

Greetings from Paris

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I’m at a cocktail bar in Paris, and they’re playing Blur.

I didn’t like the first two Dune movies, so I probably won’t like the third, either. That being said, I found them worthwhile theatrical experiences through the sheer spectacle of it. I just wish DV cared equally as much about humanity or character development. From my part 2 review.

This is an exciting venture, but no arts coverage, a pity.

Fond memories of the DC derecho. It happened while I was in a cavernous bar, so didn’t hear a thing, then was confused by the aftermath. The following day, which was very hot and humid, I went with @mattdcohen.bsky.social to see Japandroids at The Rock and Roll Hotel (great show).

1. Boogie Nights 2. One Battle After Another 3. Phantom Thread 4. There Will Be Blood 5. Licorice Pizza

Called it in January.

No applause for Thomas Pynchon is pretty funny, not gonna lie.

Mad that Penn won, glad I do not have to hear him speak.

Matt Berry reading advertising copy is so fucking funny.

Best Picture nominees as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a thread: Bugonia

*music swells* BEST PICTURE NOMINEES AT THE 98th ACADEMY AWARDS—AS DRIL TWEETS

I just blocked a writer I greatly admire. Just because I read your work doesn’t mean I should tolerate your insults. Bluesky is like a cocktail party. A block doesn’t mean you’re disinvited, just that I would rather you not join my little corner.

Maybe my most normie opinion is how much I love The Oscars. I don’t give a shit about any other award show, either. It has nothing to do with fashion, speeches, or celebrity. I just cherish the lovefest for an art form in peril, and I think it is interesting to see how sensibility/taste evolves.

In a rare confluence of filmsky and econsky, I had lunch with @interfluidity.com.

Glad this story is being told but I’m extremely disappointed that it fails to mention that The Washington Post has laid off nearly all of its arts critics A decades-deep legacy of arts coverage has been destroyed here and it hurts our city and our world www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/b...

My teeth were in rough shape at my last dentist visit. He said I needed to floss more, so I asked about a water pick. “Out of the question,” he said. I got one anyway, and used it every day. Never flossed once. When I went back this week, the dentist said my teeth looked fantastic.

Garbage editorials that flatter the wealthy. Dynamic pricing for the dwindling subscriber base. The current strategy for revitalizing The Washington Post is indistinguishable from a desire to destroy it.

Mitski now joins an exclusive club of people who filmed a Criterion Closet video and an Amoeba "What's in My Bag" video (good choices too). Others include: -David Byrne -Vince Staples -Jarvis Cocker -Questlove -Tunde Adebimpe Honestly, you could make a great playlist out of this.