Lin Darrow

personally i love him

Third film for #CIFF: Hedda, a Sapphic adaptation of Ibsen's Hedda Gabbler that updates the play from the 19th Century to the 1950s. I felt it was a bit psychologically restrained, but the recasting of Lovborg as a woman is genius; genuinely elevating to already great material.

2. The scene where Lorenz tells an endless anecdote about a little mouse to EB White, who then nods sagely, flips open his little three ring notebook, and presumably writes down the words, “Stuart, little mouse.”

1. The appearance of literal Baby Stephen Sondheim in a little bitchy suit roasting Lorenz Hart’s sloppy lyrics.

Second film at #CIFF: Blue Moon, about Lorenz Hart trying to keep it together on the opening night of Oklahoma! Marathon Ethan Hawke performance. A movie about the pains of collaboration & the agony of popular inoffensive art. 2 scenes made me absolutely lose it--spoilers in 🧵

She's one of those 'constantly making you hold multiple complex ideas in your head at the same time' writers, which I love.

Seeing some films at #CIFF! First up: Kiss of the Spider-Woman. I liked the central paradox, that we can't live without fantasy but, conversely, cannot /live/ in fantasies. But I thought the in-world film they're recreating together could have better evoked the style and look of old Hollywood.

2. The scene where Lorenz tells an endless anecdote about a little mouse to EB White, who then nods sagely, flips open his little three ring notebook, and presumably writes down the words, “Stuart, little mouse.”

1. The appearance of literal Baby Stephen Sondheim in a little bitchy suit roasting Lorenz Hart’s sloppy lyrics.

Second film at #CIFF: Blue Moon, about Lorenz Hart trying to keep it together on the opening night of Oklahoma! Marathon performance from Ethan Hawke in a movie about the pains of collaboration and the agony of popular inoffensive art. Two scenes made me absolutely lose it, though--spoilers in 🧵

7. Final recs for newbies: Octavia Butler (scifi), Shirley Jackson (horror), Terry Pratchett (fantasy), the Sherlock Holmes shorts (detective), Butcher's Dresden Files (paranormal mystery), Kate Beaton & EM Carroll (comics, history/realism and horror respectively), and Fonda Lee (fantasy/noir)!

6. Finally, if you’re not liking something, don’t feel pressure to finish it. It may be that you don't hate reading, you're just not finding books that align with your tastes and interests. Explore genres and find what you like and don't like!

5.5. Other non-fiction recs that I think would snag new readers: Sherri L Smith's American Wings (about WW1 & WW2-era Black aviators), Weir's books on the Six Wives of Henry VIII, Finkel's The Art Thief, Lansing's Endurance (explorers trapped in the Arctic), & Mineko Iwasaki's Geisha: A Life.

5.5. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by John Krakauer is another one I see people list as their reading breakthrough. Non-fiction audiobooks are my go-to when I want to vary things up, partially because they share a lot in common with podcasts.

5. Audiobooks are an artform all their own. They're great for commutes, chore time, and when you're doing things you don't need full concentration for. If you don't have time to sit down and read traditionally, audiobooks have the convenience factor.

4.5. Books that are more episodic in structure can be good for new readers, too. Stephen Graham Jones' Mongrels, a coming-of-age story about a working class werewolf family, is funny and warm and you can graduate to his more structurally ambitious horror books after if you dig his style!

4. Tackling longer books, remember there's no timeline. Read a chapter a day or a chapter a week if you want. Tracking your progress on Goodreads is one way to make this fun. You get both the accomplishment of adding a book to your shelf when you're done and the pleasure of community.

3.5. William Goldman's Princess Bride is so funny and reads like someone telling you a story, it's a great pick for non-readers. It's got plenty of surprises even if you have seen the movie.

3. Find your genre! You might enjoy the lightness and character-focus of romance, for example, or the faster pace of thrillers, but you have to try them out to see. Consider what you like in other media and start there.

2.5. I sometimes throw on a fantasy music playlist when I'm reading fantasy, for example. Sometimes this is about finding a spot or time to read. I used to read a lot on the bus, for example, because the rumble of the bus and the quiet of my evening commute were really lovely.

2. Instead of thinking of reading as a task, find some way to make it a pleasurable experience. Reading in bed or the bath, or making a hot drink, or listening to appropriate ambiance or instrumental music can make it feel more immersive/relaxing.

1.5. My favourite novellas are Wells' Murderbot (funny scifi) and Larsen's Passing (psychologically fascinating 1920s drama about two Black women who pass for white). For short stories, I often start my students off with David Sedaris, esp. Santaland Diaries (about being an Xmas mall elf).

1. Reading is a muscle and you get better the more you do it. Your brain will start expanding imaginatively and creatively, even if you're struggling to get into it. Give it time and try to start small--novellas, short stories, comics and YA take less time to read.

Do you hate reading but kind of wish you didn't? Here are some tips for getting into it from a lit professor. 🧵 With good book recs for reluctant readers!

Kpop Demon Hunters is really about the undeniable power of three girls walking together in a line.

The funniest part of Murderbot and ART's relationship is that Murderbot is a fundamentally good person made to work for an evil institution, and ART is a fundamentally evil person who works for a good institution.

a man in a suit and tie says " and you your job is to shut up " ALT: a man in a suit and tie says " and you your job is to shut up "

My favourite Robert Redford movie is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a movie where the heroes spend the whole moving running away and are probably in a throuple with Katharine Ross. They also go on a really long vacation and do bike stunts. RIP.

You look like your day would be improved by photos of Groucho Marx staring adoringly up at tall women.

I love Victorian-naturalism-as-symbol <3

The plot, as per Letterboxd. All you really need to know is that Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, real life married/divorced/married/divorced pairing, are possibly actually trying to destroy one another on film before your very eyes.