Mark Russell

I feel so internet old that I can remember when Nikki Finke launched Deadline as Deadline Hollywood Daily, and would spend all day trashing everyone in the entertainment industry (including The Wrap).

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to take a rainy nighttime walk through Seoul. But it’s one of my favorite things to do.

It’s like the opposite of Wall-E, where people grew fat but were still alert. Thanks to Ozempic and AI, we’ll be thin, but our brains will be flabby.

Bumblebee is better than any Transformers movie has any right to be. Actual characters and story and everything.

Or some epic, David Lean-esque TikTok video…

Just imagining the Portland Furry Massacre of 2026 as depicted in some epic, David Lean-esque film around 2050 or so…

NBA preseason overreactions:

• CMB is the new Scottie Barnes (rookie season version).
• Toronto will play better without Scottie if Barnes doesn’t get some discipline to his game.

I also suspect Raptors fans are really going to like Ingram.

Raptors were just great-great-great grandparents of birds. And Blue Jays basically have the manners of a pack of velociraptors.

But I think blue-themed Raptors uniforms could look cool. Would love to see them try.

So strange seeing this current version of Gretchen Carlson on CNN. After years on Fox, now she’s thoughtful and serious, not hiding her education anymore.

Toronto.

More like the haters be off their meds…

Lovely morning in Seoul, clouds rolling over Namhansan…

It’s right on your cutoff line of 2000, but what if Tracy McGrady hadn’t gone to Orlando but stayed in Toronto with Vince Carter? I still believe that together, they could have had much better (and healthier) careers, not having to shoulder the scoring burden on their own.

Jonathan is an excellent journalist and I suspect this book will be a total banger.

I feel like we’ve basically created a version of the Chinese Box that Peter Watts talks about in Blindsight.

“Trump is a mad tyrant, destroying the country and handing its government over to countless malignant little cronies and corrupt underbosses, and the result is that America is on the brink of collapse” is, I think, an idea that is both more persuasive and more true than “this is about premiums.”

Apple removes ICEBlock app from App Store Apple on Thursday removed the immigration enforcement tracking app, ICEBlock, from the App Store, citing "safety risks."

There's nothing illegal about ICE block. This is solely about Apple appeasing the Trump regime.

With Google removing sideloading next year, these companies will have total control over what runs on your phone.

www.businessinsider.com/apple-iceblo...

“But now we have an agreement so he won’t do that again! Now we’re friends!”

‘Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair’: Quentin Tarantino Epic To Be Released As One Movie In Early December Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, Quentin Tarantino’s presentation of the revenge epic that was originally presented in two volumes, will be released by Lionsgate as one complete movie on December 5...

Omg. Omg. Omg. I can’t explain how excited I am about this news — KILL BILL volumes 1 & 2, together at last. … I just hope it gets released in the theaters in Korea (in IMAX please).

deadline.com/2025/10/kill...

I’m actually not a big fan of Paul Thomas Anderson, but One Battle After Another is simply excellent. Best film I’ve seen in ages.

At the very least, he already has the body for a Marvel movie. Put him in one of the funny ones (assuming Marvel remembers how to write again).

If only there was a platform or media outlet or whatever that kept you informed and engaged, but skipped the agitprop.

I don’t need endless rage bait and freak outs, the actual facts are enraging enough, thank you. But it seems like that’s a tough square to circle.

Wrong Mark Russell! But it looks good.

The founder says the website will be hamiltongazette.ca, but it’s not active yet.

From the Hamilton community on Reddit: Follow up: A new physical newspaper has arrived in Hamilton Explore this post and more from the Hamilton community

With so many newspapers closing and journalism jobs being cut, it’s heartening to see someone trying to grow the industry a little — especially in Hamilton Ontario, a fantastic city that deserves more journalism.

www.reddit.com/r/Hamilton/c...

{ gift link } wapo.st/46GSwcv

Coates won me over quite a while ago. I really love how rigorously he thinks and his strong moral core. I wouldn’t hire him as a political advisor, but I admire his intellect.

I don’t think the direction attack on all science was in the cards either. Climate science, sure, but mRNA and cancer research? Science fields that the US leads on and that have the potential to be big businesses? I loathe this administration but didn’t see that kind of assault coming at all.

Mostly. But if Ta Nehisi-Coates considers him a friend, I’ll grant him some slack. Still a dipshit, but with a little slack.

(No idea if they’re really friends or just podcast “friend”, but I found that part of the interview striking).

Toronto Blue Jays finish with the best record in the America League since 1993. Yay. But can they go deep in the playoffs or will they flame out?