Matthew Specktor

I mean, I’m sorry, but this fantasy—that some fucking Republican astronaut (excuse me, “moderate” astronaut/general/etc) can fix it—repulses me. Sheesh

lol. Nope.

Just an absolute murderer’s row of imbeciles. I started laughing at “Park McDougald” and still haven’t recovered

“BLASPHEMY”

done

No Other Choice is also amazing. A couple there I haven't yet seen--I haven't watched as many new films this year as I usually do--but yes, very good.

This film absolutely rips, by the way. It is by far the best I've seen from 2025

Autodriving trucks will not help truckers, it will destroy them. AI is not meant to make movies better, it is to make them cheaper by eliminating whole categories of workers. ChatGPT is not intended to replace health care or writing or research, it is intended to replace the people who do those jobs

When is it out? Remind me?

Goddamn that cover is good

Need I say that the dog is not named Steve or anything like it, but who cares? We are all Flimsy Steve

Still sing the Albarn chorus on this to our dog all the time

I saw that one first run too. It kicks ass (Tom Noonan Hive, represent!)

I’ve got a long history of shit I saw first run—the benefits of being old AND raised in Hollywood—but my pick here is seeing Blade Runner not even first run but as an unfinished rough cut. That’s probably cheating tho

Jealous. The Secret Agent is tremendous, I think.

Holy fucking shit you’re spending $8 million for 30 seconds to try to convince people to use your shit product, the AI revolution is going great

This is all I’ve seen, and I’m with you. Every last scrap of film he’s ever made

Goddamn 🔥🔥🔥

It’s unbelievable. We saw it Friday night and I just can’t get over it. Total heater

One thing lit journals with even modest security can do is beef up/launch online crit sections. for print quarterlies/biannuals it's a great way to drive traffic between issues. Budget 10k/yr for 25 pieces at 400/per--a decent albeit not awesome rate. Tweak those numbers as needed but it's a start

This. On a scale that is (or would have been, until lately) unimaginable here in America, one that would make FDR even blush. Perhaps still unimaginable, but I don't see another way out.

Same

Easier said than done on multiple fronts (see Anne’s elucidation down thread re: not becoming in-groupy etc) but I would be interested in doing this. LARB (which I co-founded) no longer fills the bill here. What is to be done, as they say

The only thing I’ve seen in the last ten years that has given me hope for the future.

Yeah, exactly. This one feels like a rather substantial miss

I mean, she’s as brutal as James at his toughest—which is to say, maximally. The Death of the Heart is great too!

That Bowen is a masterpiece. By no means her only one, but my favorite.

The last great book I read would be Elsa Morante’s La Storia (“History” in the US translation, and I would assume UK ones too.) Absolutely pulverizing WWII story, and not exactly cheerful, but really lovely

I’m sure ol’ Chuck’s huddling with his consultants, trying to sort out how to connect their deaths to the affordability issues that are the ones Americans *really* care about, right?

What the fuck, man? Jesus

Counterpoint: I’m neither a prospect genius (self-appointed or otherwise) nor a Mets fan and I appreciate your excellent work on this site very much. (OK, not really a “counterpoint,” but you know what I mean. 🫡)

Screenshot from a documentary on Raël of an American courtroom with people standing as the bailiff says “The Honorable John A. Frusciante now presiding.”

I presume Flea was the bailiff.