Call your representatives

    I have spent time each day since Friday calling my representatives. I started calling everyone—my two democratic Senators, my Republican Congressman, and my Republican Governor ask them to get oil television denouncing what is happening in Washington, D.C. and with Elon Musk effectively working through a coup on our government. Amodei’s office hung up on me twice.

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    February 05, 2025
    Tags: cortez-masto | rosen | amodei | lombardo

    Solaris (1972)

    Cover art for Solaris on Blu-ray, highlighting the film's iconic visuals and its profound narrative on existence and memory.
    Damn. This one came from Letterboxd Roulette, courtesy of @jaillud. It was a great suggestion, and they pointed out that I had both Interstellar and 2001: A Space Odyssey in my top ten of all time, so this should complete the trifecta of science fiction greats. In short, it does.

    I have owned the Criterion Collection bluray of this movie for about six months. It has been staring at me from the shelf that whole time, daring me to take it on. See, I have this problem where I hear things about certain movies and those things paralyze me from watching. I am afraid I'll miss something, or I won't be emotionally able to handle it. This has scared me because it seems like a really important movie. I want to watch those, but I have to watch them right.

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    February 02, 2025
    Tags: Andrei Tarkovsky | science fiction | Donatas Banionis | all-time | Natalya Bondarchuk

    The Abyss (1989)

    A diver stands silhouetted against a glowing blue light underwater. The title "The Abyss" appears at the top in bold, blue letters.
    Another great recommendation from the Letterboxd Roulette, this time from @andywarmstrong. I had seen this a few years ago without giving it a bunch of thought. I was pretty excited to watch this with some intention, especially after liking it the first time.

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    January 25, 2025
    Tags: Michael Biehn | James Cameron | Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio | slap | drowning | Ed Harris

    La Haine (1995)

    Black and white cover of the film "La Haine" by Mathieu Kassovitz, showing three people sitting on stairs in front of graffiti.
    La Haine pointed out to me that this shit doesn’t seem to change. It’s been this way for generations. The cycle is repeating in American cities all over, in geopolitical conflict, and anywhere you can think. This particular injustice—the lack of accountability for people in power—is universal. All of us have felt it. Fortunately, we haven’t all had it end like Vinz.

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    January 12, 2025
    Tags: slap | Hubert Koundé | France | Vincent Cassel | Mathieu Kassovitz

    Breaker Morant (1980)

    A man in a white shirt with suspenders stands with hands behind his back, facing a line of soldiers under the large text "Breaker Morant.
    Another in my Criterion Challenge, this one covering the Australian movie category.

    This moved really slowly and brought out some old feelings about Edward Woodward, for some reason. The talks of movies the adults around me were having about when I was a kid are starting to come into focus. My dad thought Woodward was awesome and loved the television show The Equalizer that he starred in during the 1980s.



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    January 12, 2025
    Tags: slap | Bruce Beresford | Jack Thompson | Criterion Challenge | John Waters | Edward Woodward

    Major League (1989)

    A baseball with sunglasses and a mohawk on a blue sky background. Text below reads "Major League."
    Major League spent a lot of time being mentioned as my favorite baseball movie of all time. As I’ve changed over the years, I began to worry that this was a bad thing to say. This watch was an attempt to figure my future with the movie out. I went into this thinking it would be the end. I’d watch it, confirm that it doesn’t hold up, and I could be done with it forever. That’s not quite how it went. What I realized during this viewing is that, while it has some of the very same problems that riddle 1980s comedies, it makes baseball seem like a really fun time.

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    January 04, 2025
    Tags: Tom Berenger | Wesley Snipes | baseball | Charlie Sheen

    Audrey Hepburn was cool

    I absolutely love stories about people who fuck with fascists. Audrey Hepburn’s is a cool one.

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    The Criterion Challenge 2025

    criterion-logo.jpg
    I’ll be participating in the Criterion Challenge in 2025.

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    December 31, 2024
    Tags: criterion collection | letterboxd

    The Piano Teacher (2001)

    A man and woman embrace on a tiled floor. Text reads: "The Piano Teacher, a film by Michael Haneke, The Criterion Collection.
    My most reductive thought is this is Whiplash and Isabelle Huppert’s Erika is Miles Teller grown up. Her mother’s awfulness has turned her into someone who has no idea what counts as normal in society and she seems to feel a great deal of loneliness as a result. But there’s more.

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    December 27, 2024
    Tags: sex | Michael Haneke | Isabelle Huppert

    Rickey Henderson has died

    The best ever to bat leadoff has died at 65.



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    December 22, 2024
    Tags: baseball